


That's Just Business, Baby

by thatscoolbutwhataboutme



Category: Captive Prince - C. S. Pacat
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Canon Typical Content Warnings, Depression, F/M, Falling In Love, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Making Out, Mild Sexual Content, Nicaise (Captive Prince) Lives, Pining, Slow Burn, auguste is dead, damen's one dimple, later on, sorry - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-11
Updated: 2021-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-15 06:28:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 63,514
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28684089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatscoolbutwhataboutme/pseuds/thatscoolbutwhataboutme
Summary: "Laurent, would you want to hang out with me and my friends this weekend?""Alright, cut the act. What are you two plotting?"ORDepressed Laurent needs to take his family business back from his Uncle. Damen realizes befriending Laurent might be the best path to inheriting his own family business. After some convincing, they try to help each other achieve their goals, and if they fall in love along the way, who can blame them?
Relationships: Damen/Jokaste (Captive Prince), Damen/Laurent (Captive Prince)
Comments: 70
Kudos: 72





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> Love my boy Nicaise. He's a huge part of this story. I made him older bc we deserved to see Nicaise grow up (and to fit the timeline).
> 
> Idk if anyone is actually gonna read this, but I have not written in ages. Obviously things have been rough lately, and I guess I went back to some of my comfort fandoms. But I really have not written in forever. This is just some good ol' slow burn that I wrote for myself to fulfill some niche desires. Read at your own risk lmaooo.
> 
> Anyways, this one goes out to all my depressed folks out there. You're not alone and all that shit. Now read about someone who is also depressed falling in love.

Laurent doesn’t care. Not anymore. Not since he lost Auguste. Maybe not ever. 

The only reason he’s here is because of anger and spite. It’s actually the first time he has left his room all week, and the mass of people crowding around each other, making idle chatter, are overwhelming. That’s why Laurent has resigned himself to the wall near the exit. He has already made all of his rounds, reminding partners and investors of his existence and that his Uncle’s reign is only temporary. One day Laurent will take over, if for no other reason than to dispose of his Uncle. 

The deVere family is not all dead. 

Auguste is. His parents are, too. But Laurent is not, although some days he feels like he is.

There are eyes watching him. Laurent glances up from where he was zoning out, probably staring at some random employee, to see a not unfamiliar man. He has beautiful brown skin with olive undertones, dark curls that bounce slightly as he laughs, and warm deep brown eyes that seem to sparkle as he makes eye contact with Laurent. Laurent knows his own eyes don’t sparkle back. This man, whose name Laurent knows but cannot remember, is objectively handsome. Laurent knows that, but can’t bring himself to do anything. Perhaps in another life.

Laurent breaks eye contact as someone on the board of directors approaches him. Mustering all of his energy, Laurent puts on a smile and engages in a meaningless conversation with the woman, Vannes, if Laurent can remember correctly. Every once in a while, he glances over to make sure he is not still being watched. The first time he checks, they make eye contact again. The second time he looks, the man is laughing. A laugh that is so genuine that Laurent is almost jealous. He can’t remember the last time that he laughed that hard, especially at one of these events. And he has dimples. Dimples. The man is gone the next time that Laurent looks over. Laurent doesn’t look for him again.

As it turns out, Laurent doesn’t need to look for him. The man finds Laurent a few moments after Vannes has wished him well. 

“Hi, I’m Damianos.”

Laurent has to look up to make eye contact now that there is less of a distance between them. He tries not to feel dwarfed.

“Laurent deVere,” Laurent introduces himself with a slight nod. 

“Yes, I-” Damianos says quickly, too quickly. “I know.”

Laurent doesn’t know how to respond to that. Damianos shakes his head, then lifts a hand to cover his face. If Laurent isn’t mistaken, the man is smiling underneath. Laurent watches Damianos’ curls swing along with the movement of his head. There’s something mesmerizing about the way they bounce and hit his forehead.

“God, that was stupid. I’m actually the president of Akielon Industries. My father insists that I familiarize myself with every single noteworthy individual in this room, so that I can make easy conversation.”

“Ah,” Laurent breathes out. He’s boring. He’s being boring, and he knows it. But he doesn’t know how to stop. “Right.”

There’s an awkward pause during which Laurent stares off into space. It has gotten louder in the room, the alcohol finally forcing all of these stuffy business people to loosen up. There was a reason that Laurent positioned himself so close to the exit, and it was not to be able to catch anyone that he hadn’t gotten a chance to talk to before they leave.

Laurent is still just as tense. His mind is free of the warm fog that accompanies alcohol consumption. This is the last place Laurent would want to get drunk. While it might make the night easier to deal with, Laurent needs to be of the right state of mind around these people. He cannot allow for any mistakes or miscalculations. He finds it hard enough to think nowadays anyway. He cannot have anything making it more difficult for him.

“Do you want to get out of here?” Laurent focuses his eyes again and then fixes Damianos with a confused look. “It’s so loud in here, and I’m tired of talking to people twice my age.”

Laurent considers the implications of two future CEOs leaving an event together, but at this point he’s not even sure the title “future CEO” applies to him. Damianos can deal with whatever consequences this brings about. 

So Laurent nods and follows him out to the patio. It’s a cool, clear night that allows him to make out some constellations. Auguste had taught him how to identify quite a few. Whenever Laurent wants to pretend that Auguste is still with him, he tries to find the three stars that make up Orion’s belt. 

“I didn’t see you at the last few of your company functions that I went to,” Damianos states.

“Were you looking for me?” Laurent’s face remains neutral as he speaks.

Damianos grins, and there are those damned dimples again. “Maybe. You left before I could approach you when I saw you last time.”

Laurent lets out a breath of something between laughter and a scoff, but his face does not change. His eyes find their way back up to Orion. Auguste would tell Laurent that he should make a good impression on the future CEO of a company he will need to do business with. Auguste would have no problem chumming it up with Damianos. Auguste would be able to make Damianos laugh that genuine laugh like he had done earlier. Laurent is not Auguste.

Although sometimes he wishes he was.

“Do you see the ‘W’ up there?” Damianos asks, suddenly standing right behind Laurent and pointing to a section in the sky. Laurent can’t follow his finger but he knows what constellation Damianos is referring to. “That’s Cassiopeia.”

Laurent closes his eyes and bites his bottom lip to steady himself. The memories come flooding back, late nights spent staring at the sky and memorizing the arrangement of the stars. Any group of stars that Auguste wasn’t able to identify, Laurent was allowed to name. Laurent chose names similar to those that he read about in books and came up with stories to accompany them.

He makes a mental note to take Nicaise stargazing one night.

“I’m sure you know Ursa Major and Ursa Minor.” Laurent nods silently.

Auguste had called them the Big Dipper and the Little Dipper the first time he took Laurent stargazing. It wasn’t until Laurent consulted an astronomy book in order to impress Auguste the next time they went that he discovered the Dippers were part of larger constellations. Laurent has not gone out of his way to learn more about constellations since Auguste died.

“The bears…” 

“Yeah!” Damianos sounds excited that Laurent is finally contributing to the conversation. “And Cassiopeia was a queen who angered Poseidon.”

Suddenly a streak of light crosses the sky. Laurent immediately lights up, staring at the shooting star with a smile. For a moment, his heart feels light, and he remembers the first time he and Auguste had spotted one. Laurent had squeezed his eyes closed and wished for Auguste to never leave him even when he got married and took over the company. 

Clearly that had not come true.

“That’s the first real smile I’ve seen from you all night,” Damianos points out, decidedly not staring at the sky anymore.

Laurent doesn’t know how to feel. He’s not used to people being so open and honest. People in business are never so open and honest.

“You’ve been watching me all night?”

Damianos laughs lightly, “perhaps.”

“I’ve noticed.” Laurent smiles, this one superficial. “Damianos, why have you approached me tonight?”

“Do I need a reason?”

“ _ Damianos _ .”

He sighs. Laurent has caught him. “I need your help.” Laurent is confused but gestures for him to continue. “My brother is vying for my position at Akielon Industries. He’s being such a suck-up towards our dad, and I’m honestly worried about the lengths he will go to become CEO when our dad retires. I thought maybe you or your uncle could put in a good word for me.”

“You overestimate my influence...” He starts turning away. Damianos moves to catch up, blocking the door.

“Maybe you could say something to your uncle. He and my father have worked together closely in the past. He would trust your uncle’s word.” 

_ He shouldn’t _ , Laurent doesn’t say.

“Why not approach my Uncle to begin with?” Laurent does say, attempting to step around Damianos.

“It’s a little less intimidating to go up to someone my own age...” Damianos replies sheepishly, shuffling over so that Laurent is able to get past.

“Well, it was futile,” Laurent shuts down the conversation and walks back into the party.

Damianos’ obsequious brother is no concern of Laurent’s. He pulls out his phone to check the time. Seeing as it’s well after 10 at night and Laurent has already made his presence known, he decides he can head home. Nicaise would probably appreciate that. He has already texted Laurent several times to proclaim his boredom. Laurent reads them all but can’t find the energy to reply.

He then locates his Uncle in the crowd. Damianos has already found and struck up a conversation with him. Laurent fights the urge to roll his eyes and heads to the bathroom instead.

Yes, that is the only reason that Damianos came up to him. Any flirting that Laurent might have thought he detected was just a ploy to get Laurent on his side. It was unsuccessful.

The mirror reveals the shell of Laurent. He doesn’t look sad or angry or even disappointed. He just looks blank. Laurent isn’t sure he has much of a personality to determine how he reacts to things anymore. He feels like he is just constantly acting. He becomes whoever the people around need him to be when he can become anyone at all. 

He turns on the cold water and splashes his face with it. When he looks back up at the mirror, there is no change. He doesn’t look any more awake or alert. He doesn’t look any more worthy of positive attention.

Laurent dries his face and walks out of the bathroom. He immediately locks eyes with his Uncle who is no longer conversing with Damianos, instead speaking to a boy named Aimeric, someone whose name Laurent will never forget, with a hand resting on the boy’s lower back. Laurent pointedly ignores his Uncle waving him over and makes for the door. Any chance he has to avoid an interaction with his Uncle is one he is going to take.

The front yard is fairly empty as Laurent goes to find his car, but there is a tall figure waiting as a car pulls up. A tall, broad figure. Damianos. Laurent can’t help but watch as he helps a woman get out from the passenger seat. The woman is gorgeous with wavy blonde hair and long legs. Which makes it unsurprising when Damianos goes in for a kiss.

Laurent quickly looks away. 

Now it’s overwhelmingly evident. Damianos was definitely not flirting with him. Damianos would have a girlfriend. That’s no surprise, Laurent thinks as he gets into his car. He is… everything, really. He’s tall and kind and smart, and Laurent is happy for him. 

  
  


^^^^^

  
  


Damen knows what this looks like. It looks like he’s using Laurent and his uncle. It’s not true. Well, it’s not entirely true.

Damen knows just how awkward his conversation with Laurent was. He really had gone up to Laurent just hoping to be friends. He hates having to make false conversation with all of these people who see him as a company instead of a person. He thought that it might be better if he could just have one friendly face at these things.

It helped that Laurent is absolutely gorgeous. It’s always easier to talk to a pretty face, even if you’re not attracted to them. That’s why all of Damen’s friends are attractive. (Okay, so maybe that’s more of a coincidence). 

He had noticed Laurent for the first time earlier this year. Glimmering gold in a mound of coal. It was his beauty that had caught Damen’s eye in the first place, but as he watched Laurent when he talked to others, he became intrigued by the performance that Laurent was putting on. 

Laurent acted in the same depthless way when interacting with people tonight. It was enough to fool the people he spoke to, but Damen noticed the way his fake smiles dropped when they turned around. He could see how tired Laurent looked after each discussion, as if they all took a significant amount of his energy. Damen could see how empty his eyes looked even when he was smiling.

His goal tonight was to crack Laurent’s icy exterior and find out what lay behind. He wanted to figure out who Laurent actually is. He wanted to set the sails of friendship.

Well that friendship boat has probably sailed at this point. It most likely sailed the moment Laurent asked him about his intentions. Damen regrets cracking under the pressure, but he’s not one for lying and Laurent’s gaze was so intense. 

Laurent himself was much more intense than Damen had anticipated. Every conversation with him felt like wading through a swamp, never knowing when a vine was going to grab your ankle. 

“Damen,” Jokaste whispers into his ear.

Damen snaps back to the present, smiling at Laurent’s uncle. He’s not entirely sure what was just said, but he knows it is his turn to talk. He shouldn’t have been so lost in thought, but this is the second time that he has talked to this man. Damen had to excuse himself during their first conversation to go show Jokaste in. She was fashionably late, as usual.

“He’s asking about his nephew,” Jokaste supplies helpfully, playing it off as simply giving Damen a kiss on his temple.

“He’s a pleasure to speak to. Very polite.” Damen hopes that’s an adequate response.

“His head is stuck in the clouds,” Laurent’s uncle disagrees. “I think he’s too aloof to make business relations.” Damen purses his lips. “You on the other hand, Damianos. I can see myself getting along well with you.”

“I’m glad you think so, Mr. deVere.”

“In fact, you should come over. We can talk about our future collaborations and possibly even co-branding. How does Thursday night sound?”

Damen is shocked. He squeezes Jokaste’s hand in order to prevent his excitement from showing on his face. Jokaste squeezes his hand back, ever the supportive girlfriend.

“Thursday works for me,” Damen agrees before they exchange business cards. 

Then Damen and Jokaste walk off, waiting until they’ve put some distance and some groups of people between themselves and Laurent’s uncle before they start giggling. Damen wraps his arms around her shoulders and sways her back and forth as Jokaste laughs and tells him that she knew he could do it. 

Jokaste eventually slips out from Damen’s arms and cups his face. “You are going to kick ass as a CEO.”

“I just have to make sure that I don’t fuck up on Thursday night.” Jokaste smiles and shakes her head, but Damen continues, “I just don’t want to celebrate prematurely. I’ve already ruined one conversation with a deVere.”

“Laurent is just like that. His uncle said it himself,” Jokaste says, slipping her arms around Damen’s neck. “Besides, Laurent doesn’t matter. He’s never going to make CEO.”

Damen supposes that’s true enough. Laurent didn’t even seem to have any interest in his company. He didn’t bring it up at all. Then again, Laurent didn’t really bring anything up during their conversation. Not to mention his uncle. Laurent’s uncle really seems to have no faith in Laurent. And Laurent’s face had dropped as soon as Damen had mentioned him. To think Damen had thought his own family situation was complicated.

Suddenly the door opens and Damen’s stomach sinks. Kastor and his father walk in. Damen had thought they weren’t even coming. It’s past 11, and his father is getting older. 

He represses a groan, albeit not entirely successfully, as the pair heads towards him. Jokaste shushes Damen and greets his brother and father pleasantly. She has always been better at faking it than Damen. She grins at Kastor; whereas, Damen can barely look at him without gritting his teeth.

“Damianos, how have you fared without me,” Theomedes begins, slapping Damen’s shoulder and guiding him away from Jokaste and Kastor. “Things haven’t been too troublesome, have they?”

Damen smiles, feeling lighter now that he is away from Kastor. “I’ve done pretty well, actually. I’ve already set up somewhat of a meeting for this Thursday.” 

“That’s my boy,” Theomedes slaps his back once more. “I’m going to say hello to some of these bastards. I’ll be back.”

As Theomedes walks towards a group of people, they separate to allow him to join their group. Damen wants that sort of respect, that power. It’s something that he would achieve if he was the CEO of Akielon Industries, but it’s not the reason that Damen wants to take over.

He wants to run Akielon Industries because he’d been born to do so. He has grown to love and care for the company, too. The board has become part of his family, and Damen wants to help the business succeed.

Jokaste has disappeared when Damen returns. As has Kastor. Damen tries not to overthink it. He tries and he fails not to overthink it. Before he can get too deep into his thoughts, there is a hand on his shoulder, a much gentler hand than his father’s.

He turns to see Jokaste looking back at him. He knew he shouldn’t have worried. From how cold Jokaste’s normally warm hands are when she grabs his, she has just finished washing her hands. 

“Where did you run off to?” Damen asks, giving her a peck on the lips.

“The bathroom.” 

Just as Damen had suspected. Kastor is still missing, and Damen has no desire to search for him. He’s content just holding Jokaste’s hands and trying to imagine Thursday night. Jokaste does not share Damen’s feelings. 

“Where is Kastor?”

“Don’t know, don’t care,” Damen answers honestly as he brings Jokaste’s hand to his lips.

“Jesus,” she sighs. “What is going on with you two lately?”

The truth is that Damen isn’t entirely sure. He knows that he feels betrayed by Kastor suddenly trying his hardest to steal the company out from under Damen’s feet. It’s beyond irritating to watch him attempt to garner their father’s good graces and outdo Damen at every opportunity that presents itself. 

Damen knows that things haven’t been the easiest for Kastor since their dad married Damen’s mom. And Damen didn’t help with his relentless teasing (“first born but second place!”) whenever he excelled in a sport that Kastor did not. But that’s just the way things go sometimes. Their dad placed such a high emphasis on sports and winning in general. It is only natural that Damen grew up to be so competitive. And it certainly isn’t Damen’s fault that he happens to be naturally gifted when it comes to athletics. 

Maybe there is part of Kastor that resented Damen for that, but Damen still never thought that Kastor would try to take the company right from under him like this. Jokaste, as an only child, wouldn’t understand. She thinks that just because they are blood, they should never have any disagreements. Kastor and Damen have argued about more things than either of them can remember. Damen loves his brother, but right now, he can't stand him.

“He’s just… an asshole,” Damen explains, at a loss for the appropriate words.

“Who’s an asshole?”

God, this man must have the worst timing in the world. Both Damen and Jokaste turn to face Kastor, who is walking up to them with a smug smile. 

Damen has never wanted to punch his own brother so much. Even when Kastor threw a football straight at Damen’s back, leaving a bruise that hurt for the next week and a half. Even when Kastor sent a hockey puck flying into Damen’s chest when he was in the middle of taking his gear off, having beaten Kastor fair and square. That impact had been so hard that it broke Damen’s skin and left a scar. 

None of those times compare to now because Kastor hasn’t even done anything, but Damen feels like he has. There was once a time when Damen trusted his brother with his life. Now Damen wouldn’t even trust him with a goldfish.

“I was just telling Jokaste that I’ve dealt with my fair share of assholes tonight. Tell dad I’m heading home.” Kastor nods.

It’s a risk to leave Kastor with this information. It’s a risk to leave Kastor at an event like this in general, but Damen got here at least two hours before they showed up. He’s tired and doesn’t want to deal with Kastor.

Damen is heading for the door when Jokaste pulls at his arm. “One of my friends is over there. Pull the car around, and I’ll meet you outside,” she explains. Damen kisses her temple quickly and makes for his car.

^^^^^

“Laurent?” 

Then a knock on the door. 

Laurent doesn’t have the energy to yell. Definitely doesn’t have the energy to get out of bed and open the door himself. Fortunately the door opens without him having to do either of those.

Nicaise pads into the room as quietly as he can manage, and, upon seeing that Laurent is still awake, sits on the side of his bed. “How was the party?”

“Miserable,” is Laurent’s reply. It’s an exaggeration. Today has been relatively good for him. Nicaise knows that just from the fact that he managed to go to the party in the first place.

“Don’t be so dramatic.” Nicaise rolls his eyes and lies down beside him. “Tell me about it. I never get to go to them.”

The reason Nicaise is no longer allowed at company functions is because last time Uncle brought him, Nicaise complained very loudly about how bored he was and then persuaded the bartender to make him a few vodka cranberries. Nobody responded well to a drunk fourteen year old telling them that they were disgusting capitalist pigs. Uncle would have probably beat him until there was no skin left on his ass if Laurent hadn’t threatened to call CPS. His Uncle had had enough embarrassment for one evening.

“There is nothing to tell.”

“You didn’t meet anyone?”

“No.”

“Are you sure?” Nicaise prods.

“Why do you care?” Laurent snaps. It sounds harsher coming out of his mouth than he had meant for it to, but Nicaise is used to his irritability by now.

“Because you need to get out more. You need friends,” is Nicaise’s reasoning.

Laurent doesn’t even try to argue that Nicaise is his friend. He knows that’s not what he meant. He and Nicaise are related in a complicated and ridiculous way. Nicaise is Uncle’s adopted son so that makes them cousins, but Laurent’s Uncle was also his court appointed legal guardian so they’re brothers in that way. 

But Nicaise is a child. Even though Nicaise had to grow up quickly and is therefore mature for his age, he is still only sixteen. Laurent doesn’t want to burden him with his friendship. He should be out having fun with other teenagers.

“And I’m meant to find them at a business party?”

“Well you didn’t find any at college.” 

Laurent knows it’s true. Maybe if he hadn’t dropped out after a year and a half. Maybe if he had actually been able to keep up with his school work. Maybe if he hadn’t skipped classes to sleep. Maybe then Laurent would have been able to make some friends. 

But Nicaise is grinning, proud of his snarky remark. He has obviously been spending too much time with Laurent. Laurent can’t help but smile back. Maybe it’s Nicaise who should be getting out more. How embarrassing to be spending so much time with your cousin/brother that you start talking like him. Laurent loves Nicaise dearly.

“You have four years of living on me, and I still have way more friends than you.”

“That’s simply because you’re a whore,” Laurent retorts, his smile widening. 

Nicaise gasps and shoves at Laurent with no real power behind it. “Better a whore than a frigid prude,” he snaps back.

Laurent can only smile, moving his hand up to Nicaise’s hair. Nicaise follows his lead and shifts to put his head on Laurent’s lap. They sit in silence for a moment while Laurent lightly scratches Nicaise’s head. It’s an always appreciated moment of calm that they don’t get as often as they would like. 

“I did meet a guy tonight…” Laurent trails off. There’s not much of a story to tell, but it’s the most interesting thing that has happened to him in weeks. He does not lead a very thrilling life.

Nicaise perks up at that. “Was he hot? What did he look like?” Those are always the first questions that come to Nicaise’s mind.

“Absolutely,” Laurent remembers the way Damianos’ eyes crinkled as he smiled. The way Laurent could feel his warmth when Damianos stood behind him. Laurent's face softens at the memories, and then reality sets in. “His girlfriend was beautiful, too.”

“Oh fuck the girlfriend,” Nicaise practically hisses. “Her pussy’s probably trash. Why else would he come up to you.”

Laurent would choke on his own saliva if he didn’t know Nicaise so well. “How did you know he came up to me anyway?”

“It’s not like you went up to anyone.”

That’s a fair point. All night he had either waited for people to come up to him or walked in front of the person he needed to talk to, knowing that they would grab him for a conversation. Laurent hates initiating conversation. 

“Nicaise, what time is it?” 

Nicaise whines, rolling over and hiding his face in Laurent’s covers. He knows what is coming next. There was a time when Nicaise would argue that now that he’s almost an adult, he should be able to go to sleep whenever he wants. They don’t argue over things like that anymore. Laurent doesn’t usually have the energy to keep up anymore. He also knows that the bedtime is more for Laurent than Nicaise anyway. 

It’s not that Laurent even goes to sleep at a decent time. He just needs some time for himself. He can barely think anymore, and he definitely can’t think when he’s not alone. 

“Will you at least take me driving after school tomorrow?” 

Laurent smiles lightly as he watches Nicaise slide off the bed. 

“Sure.”

  
  



	2. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a meeting or two... or three... or four...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Take a shot every time an ellipses is used. Depending on your drink of choice, you'll probably die. Pro tip: use water to stay hydrated!
> 
> I feel like this is a good time to let you know that this loosely takes place in New York state. (East Coast babyyyyy.) It's not that important to the story, but I feel like a lot of big business CEO's live in NY state so it felt right.

Damen is wearing an outfit that Jokaste picked out. He feels physically uncomfortable yet confident. He doesn’t know what to expect as he rings the doorbell, but he’s prepared. He went over some numbers for Akielon Industries, and he did some research on the deVere’s company as well. They specialize in cookware and utensils, and Akielon Industries is their main supplier. 

They work together closely, so they have to maintain a tight relationship. It would be a nightmare if Mr. deVere decided he would rather work with another company that sources raw materials. That’s why Akielon Industries does not work with any of the deVere’s competitors. That’s why Damianos has to present himself well in this meeting. That’s why Damen has to represent his company well tonight. 

Mr. deVere opens the door with a warm smile, welcoming Damen into his home. Damen follows him through his house, glancing at the artwork decorating the walls. There is a surprising lack of family photos, but Damen knows that his own family is more family-oriented than a lot of others. Especially ultra rich families. They tend to prioritize aesthetic over sentimentality. Damianos’ family is a rare exception. Damen is more grateful than ever to have grown up with the father he did. Although he did sometimes wish he had been able to have more time with his mother before she passed.

“So Damianos, your father is planning to retire soon.” Damen nods. “He plans on making you the next CEO, no?”

“Yes, sir,” Damen confirms. “I’ve been preparing for this moment my whole life. I was one of the few business majors who wasn’t just there for shits and giggles.”

This earns a laugh from the man, and Damen internally lets out a sigh of relief. He just needs to keep this up until Mr. deVere officially decides that Damianos is a capable leader to work with. He’s grateful for the extra-strength deodorant he put on before he left because he’s already stressed. 

The meeting goes well, the conversation flowing, until Damen inquires about the restroom. Mr. deVere points him down the hall and gives him directions that he immediately forgets. Damen has never been good with directions, but he’s not about to admit that to Mr. deVere. So he walks down the hall and opens a door that resembles a bathroom as much as any door can in a hallway with many. 

It’s not a bathroom. 

Sitting on a bed in the middle of the room is a teenager with dark curls and bright blue eyes. The boy stares at Damen with his eyebrows furrowed, a laptop still sitting open beside him. 

“Uh…” 

“Oh shit, sorry! I was looking for the bathroom.”

“This isn’t the bathroom.” 

That is very apparent now. This boy’s dry remarks remind him of Laurent, but they look almost nothing alike. Their eyes are the only point of resemblance, but this boy’s eyes are a brighter blue; whereas, Laurent’s had been an icy blue. Although they both manage to make Damen feel like a bumbling idiot whenever he looks into them. 

“Okay, well obviously,” Damen replies, blinking incredulously. “Are you a deVere?”

“More or less. I’m Nicaise. Who are you?”

“Damianos. You can call me ‘Damen’ if you want.” Make a good impression on the man’s son. Nepotism is always beneficial. Damen would know.

“What makes you think I’ll want to call you anything?”

Or don’t make a good impression on the son. That works too. Damen didn’t make a good impression on the nephew either. At this point, Damen doesn’t know why he’s even trying. Obviously this family is determined to hate him. 

“You don’t have to. I’m going to find the bathroom.”

Before Damen can leave the room, Nicaise calls out, “second or third door on your right no, left. Just don’t go into Laurent’s room. He’s sleeping.”

Damen nods. Clearly he is not the only one in this house who struggles with directions. But as Damen walks further down the hall, he can’t help but contemplate the words that Nicaise had said about Laurent. It’s hardly nine, so Damen is shocked to hear that he’s sleeping. Maybe he’s sick. That’s the only reasonable explanation. Or maybe Laurent is just one of those people who goes to sleep really early. Like an old man. 

But wait, Laurent still lives with his uncle? Damen realizes that he does not actually know how old Laurent is. He assumed that Laurent was around his age, but Damen has been living on his own for a good few years now. Maybe Laurent is still in high school. He has to at least be a junior or senior because he can drive on his own. Then again, Damen could swear that he remembers seeing Laurent at an event this year during the middle of the day on a Wednesday. Damen tries not to overthink it.

There are two doors in front of him. The second and third door on the left. Damen takes a deep breath and opens a door. A bathroom. Thank God. Damen has no idea what he would do if he walked into another occupied room. Especially after what happened on Sunday. He’s fairly sure that Laurent hates him now. 

After he has taken a piss, Damen washes his hands and checks himself for sweat stains. Miraculously, there are none. He has somehow managed to control his nerves enough that he has not had any stress sweat. 

On his way back to Mr. deVere, Damen pops by Nicaise’s room. He knocks and then opens the door. “It’s the second door on the left. Thank you.”

“Is that your car out there?” A sleek black BMW. It’s the first car that Damen has ever bought for himself. It’s nice, and he’s proud.

Yet this is just another reason that Nicaise reminds him of Laurent. Every interaction leaves Damen completely blindsided. Damen decides to just go with it. ‘Go with the flow,’ as Damen’s friend Nikandros would say. He spent one month in Hawaii and now he’s a surfer. Classic.

Mr. deVere is probably wondering what’s taking so long, but Damen can’t deny that he’s enjoying his conversations with Nicaise. This family is absolutely bizarre, but Damen thinks it’s fun.

“It is.”

“Can I drive it?” Damen doesn’t answer immediately. He’s wracking his brain trying to figure out what is going on. “I have my permit!” Nicaise rushes to add, presumably hoping that this fact will convince Damen. 

“Doesn’t your dad or Laurent let you drive one of their cars?”

Nicaise looks as though Damen has just spit on the floor in front of him. “Uncle is  _ not _ my father,” he bites out. “I don’t want him teaching me, and Laurent always says he’ll take me driving but rarely does.”

Damen decides it’s better not to ask. He wouldn’t know what to ask first. Somehow both times he has talked to Nicaise, he has just ended up with even more questions about this family. 

“Okay. Yeah. I mean, if you really want then I can help teach you. I’m a pretty good driver, if I do say so myself.”

Nicaise smiles, and Damen is once again reminded of Laurent. But Laurent would never invite Damen, or anyone, to spend time with him so easily. Nicaise also seems to be way pushier than Laurent is.   
  


This feels like a good time for Damen to return to his meeting with the uncle, so he leaves Nicaise with a smile, closing the door behind him. Damen can’t help but laugh quietly and shake his head. He’s not sure if Mr. deVere or Laurent will allow him to teach Nicaise to drive, but he’s definitely up for it. Damen isn’t the type to make plans that he doesn't intend to keep. Besides, the idea of teaching Nicaise sounds like a good time. 

“Ah, I was worried you had gotten lost,” Mr. deVere greets him.

“No, sir,” Damen says with a polite chuckle. “I was just getting acquainted with Nicaise.”

“So you met my boy.”

There is something disconcerting about the way Mr. deVere says ‘my boy’. It’s not the fatherly way that Damen’s dad does. Rather it’s a possessive tone of voice with some thinly veiled braggadocio. 

They continue their conversation, but the back of Damen’s mind is stuck on the relationship between this man and Nicaise. Damen decides he should learn a little bit more about this family before he continues their business collaborations. Of course that’s assuming that Damen will be the one to make that decision. If he does discover something damning about Mr. deVere, he’s not sure what he can do.

It’s a catch 22. No matter what Damen does, Akielon Industries will have to continue working with Mr. deVere. If he ruins his relationship with the man now, Kastor will make CEO and continue their business partnership. But if Damen wants to make CEO, he will have to cooperate with Mr. deVere. Other CEOs will not respect him if he uses the man to gain power and then drops him as soon as he can. He is stuck.

Although maybe Damen is jumping the gun here. He knows his father has a strict moral code and would never work with someone who breaks it. There’s always a chance that Theomedes doesn’t know, but they’ve worked together so closely for so long that it seems improbable. 

Yet Damen can’t seem to shake the feeling deep in the pit of his stomach.

As soon as would not be considered rude, Damen notes the time and explains that he should get home so that he can prepare for another meeting in the morning. He has no morning meeting. His only plans for the morning consist of eating breakfast and working out like almost every other weekday morning. Mr. deVere does not need to know that.

They’re walking out of the parlour room when Mr. deVere’s phone rings. There is an almost pained look on his face as he looks at who is calling. 

“I do apologize, Damianos.”

“No need. I can see myself out. Thank you for your hospitality.”

The man nods as he walks back into the room, answering his phone and closing the door behind him. Damen is promptly left alone with his thoughts. There’s something eerie about walking through the deVere residence alone, especially now that he has some suspicions about the head of the household. 

At least this time Damen has a general idea of where he is supposed to go. The door that Damen entered was near the kitchen so if he can find his way back to the kitchen, then he’s sure he’ll be able to find the correct door. Fortunately the kitchen is decently easy to find. Unfortunately Damen is not alone in the kitchen. 

Well… maybe it’s not entirely unfortunate…

“Laurent?”

“Damianos… hello.”

Laurent is standing at the kitchen island over a bowl of cereal, his hand still holding a spoon. He looks as if he was expecting to be interrupted but not by Damen. He’s wearing an oversized white tee with dark grey sweatpants. His hair looks messy, so messy that it’s nearly tangled, but he does not look entirely unkempt. Damen envies his nonchalance. 

“Hi,” Damen answers dumbly. He is not nearly as composed as Laurent is, and after that meeting, he cannot even pretend to be. “‘Damen’ is fine. How are you? Nicaise told me you were asleep.”

“Right, Damen,” Laurent says as if he’s testing it out. “ I was... ”

He looks back down at his bowl and gets another spoonful but does not lift it up to his mouth. This is the first time Damen has noticed how long Laurent’s hair is. Probably not long enough to make up a successful bun, but definitely long enough to brush the tops of his shoulders. If he wasn’t careful while eating, his hair would be long enough to get caught in his mouth. 

Of course this isn’t a problem right now. Laurent seems determined not to eat while Damen is here. Jokaste hates eating in front of others as well.

Damen realizes he might be overstaying his welcome. In fact, he is even looking around for the exit when Laurent looks back up at him. Just noticing his gaze through his peripheral is enough to make Damen stop in his tracks and divert all of his attention to Laurent in case he speaks. Which he does.

“You spoke to Nicaise?” Then in a voice barely above a whisper, “that little bitch.”

“Yeah, I did,” Damen answers, ignoring Laurent’s last statement. “Funny kid. He wants me to take him driving?”

Laurent finally lets go of the spoon and walks around to the other side of the island so that he can lean back against the island as he talks to Damen, both hands gripping the top. The way he slinks around the island reminds Damen of the cat that his family had adopted when he was young. Lithe, poised, dignified. 

“Yes. I haven’t been as diligent about taking him out as I promised I would,” Laurent explains with an indecipherable look on his face. “You don’t have to take him up on that, of course.”

“Actually, I would be up for it.” Laurent tilts his head inquisitively, golden hair sliding delicately down his shoulder. “I have respect for anyone who is as bad with directions as I am. Besides, Nicaise is way cooler than I was when I was…”

“Sixteen,” Laurent supplies and then the corners of his lips quirk upwards. “And I hate to admit it, but I agree. He has ten times as many friends as I did at that age.”

At this moment Laurent looks so soft and vulnerable. It’s clear that he has a sweet spot for Nicaise, despite calling him a bitch earlier. It’s different from the demeanor that Laurent typically displays. Damen finds it much more pleasant than Laurent’s impervious mien, but seeing as this is the first time he has been allowed to witness this side of Laurent, he is not really in the position to mention that. 

Before Damen can respond, the sound of footsteps nearing catches their attention. Every bit of openness that Laurent was displaying is suddenly gone. He retreats back behind the island, settling beside his bowl of cereal. It’s almost as if Laurent was never even there. Like Laurent is a ghost. 

But for some reason that Damen cannot quite explain, he finds himself following Laurent slightly. Not a ghost, Damen corrects, a planet and Damen is a moon orbiting him. Just orbiting, as there is still a decent amount of space between them, but Damen is definitely caught in Laurent’s gravity.

“Damianos, Laurent,” Mr. deVere acknowledges with a nod.

“Uncle.” It’s the same bitter tone of voice that Nicaise had used when talking about him.

“You’re eating.”

“Not anymore.” 

Laurent grabs his bowl and turns to the sink as he says this, practically dropping the half-full bowl in. Some of the cereal and milk splashes up onto the counter. Damen is mostly concerned for the state of the bowl, but Laurent has made his point.

Mr. deVere sighs. “You’re intractable, nephew. Please at least show respect when we have company.”

Laurent glances over at Damen then back at his uncle. Then back at Damen. Damen knows that the concern and confusion that he is feeling is showing on his face. Laurent looks as unexpressive as always. 

No one says anything. It’s such an awkward moment that Damen thinks he could drown in the tension in the air. He’s actually grateful when Mr. deVere addresses him.

“Damianos, it was lovely having you over tonight. I hope my nephew has not dissuaded you from visiting again.”

“Of course. We have much more to discuss.”

Damen intends for the statement to imply that Mr. deVere can leave, but the man continues to intrude. Although there wasn’t much to intrude upon in the first place. All Damen wants is one quality conversation with Laurent. Apparently that is too much to ask from any deVere boy. 

Laurent is leaning against the kitchen counter, arms crossed obstinately and glaring as his uncle. His uncle is looking back at him with an exasperated look on his face, one hand in his pocket while the other holds his phone. Then he walks towards Damen and claps a hand on his shoulder. Damen feels inordinately uncomfortable, but only looks at the man with the kindest look he can muster.

“Good man.” Damen could swear that he hears a wry huff of air come from Laurent’s direction. “I hope to see you again next week then.” Now footsteps. 

He agrees to the meeting, but his attention is really on Laurent leaving the kitchen without so much as a word of goodbye. Damen tries not to feel hurt. In fact, he doesn’t feel hurt. He feels angry. Angry that Mr. deVere would interrupt their conversation and belittle his own nephew in front of him. Angry that he finally had an opportunity to befriend Laurent and now he’s blowing it because he needs to play congenial with Mr. deVere. 

All Damen can do is hope that his anger is not showing on his face, pray that the frustration does not come through in his voice as he says goodbye. He doesn’t think he succeeded.

^^^^^

As soon as Laurent leaves the kitchen, he heads for Nicaise’s room. He can’t believe that the one person he told Nicaise about came to their home and met Nicaise. It feels like the universe is teasing him, warning Laurent that he should never get too comfortable because it can always ruin his life again. And again and again.

Laurent knocks quietly as a formality but does not wait for a response before he opens the door and walks in. Nicaise just drops his phone on the bed and balances his laptop so that he can sit up.

“What did you say to Damianos?” 

Nicaise furrows his eyebrows. “You met Damen?” 

Right, Damen. Laurent forgets things so easily now… He doesn’t actually say anything in response, but Nicaise must read the silence as an answer of his own. He purses his lips for a second and then they fall apart into a silent gasp.

“Wait! Fuck! If I had known-”

“No,” Laurent cuts him off coldly. He walks across the room so that Nicaise knows just how serious he is. “If you want to go driving, you won’t say shit.”

Nicaise’s eyes brighten at that prospect. “He’s gonna take me?”

Laurent motions for Nicaise to scoot over, which he quickly does, and then sits on the edge of the bed. Nicaise’s phone gets a few notifications before the boy reaches down to silence it. He’s clearly ready for whatever Laurent’s answer is. Laurent now feels bad that he hadn’t thought to at least get Damen’s email. Asking for his phone number would have been too forward, but email at least sounds professional. 

“He said he would be okay with it, but I didn’t get his contact information.”

“Laurent, you’re hopeless,” Nicaise sighs, leaning back on his bed. “A guy with a quick wit and muscles walks in, and you suddenly forget how to use your brain.”

Laurent can’t help but laugh softly. He would remind Nicaise that Damianos has dimples and beautiful brown eyes too, but he thinks that would just prove his point. Nicaise is 16 with an ego bigger than the continental United States. He does not need anything else to goad Laurent with.

It has been years since Laurent has had a crush, long before he dropped out of college, before he even met Nicaise, even before Auguste died. But that does not mean that Laurent has not found anyone attractive. Just because he never goes up to the men he finds attractive does not mean that he doesn’t look. He is never obvious in his gaze. His face remains neutral, but Nicaise notices every time.

After a moment of comfortable silence between them, Nicaise pulls his laptop over and continues working on whatever he had been before. Laurent can tell he has a document of some sort open, but Nicaise doesn’t even manage to type out a sentence before he’s back on his phone, responding to one of his many friends.

“What are you working on?” Laurent inquires, peering over to get a better look.

“AP English,” Nicaise answers absentmindedly. “Why? Do you want to do it for me?”

Laurent laughs dryly. “I couldn’t even do my own classwork. Who do you think you’re talking to?” Nicaise knows very well the circumstances that led to Laurent taking a semester off. He also knows very well the circumstances that led to that one semester off becoming dropping out for an indefinite time period. Neither of them can see Laurent going back to school any time soon. “I bet you’d be able to finish that essay if you got off your phone.”

Nicaise groans and tosses his phone to the foot of the bed. “Fuck off.” But he starts typing something that Laurent knows must be a well thought out analysis. For all Nicaise’s cursing and false indifference, he’s incredibly smart. He just needs to continue to apply himself.

“I can’t believe you didn’t put it together until now,” Laurent teases when Nicaise’s typing has come to a halt.

It is shocking. Laurent would say that he didn’t give Nicaise much information to go off of, but Nicaise should know what Laurent finds attractive in men at this point. And it’s not like Laurent and his Uncle work with an abundance of attractive people. 

“And I can’t believe you talked to him twice and still didn’t get his number!”

“Well, it didn’t help that Uncle interrupted our most recent conversation…”

Nicaise grimaces at the thought. “Why were Damen and Uncle even having a meeting?”

Business details are not what Laurent finds particularly interesting, but he does have a mind for the relations and connections between people and businesses. Laurent likes figuring out people. He doesn’t necessarily like people themselves, but he likes to understand them. He likes the advantage it gives him. Although he hasn’t used any of said advantages in years, he still does his best to learn, and remember, who is partners with who and who has broken contracts with who.

“His father is considering giving Akielon Industries to his brother. He wants Uncle’s favor in order to persuade his father that he is the better choice.”

That is all the information that Nicaise will care about. Nicaise is smart as a whip, but he’s not interested in the deVere family business. Of course, Nicaise does not need to care. Not yet and possibly not ever. If he wants a job there, he is assured one, but if he does not, he has no obligation to take one. 

But the look on Nicaise’s face is contemplating. Laurent can tell that he’s trying to put the pieces together. Before Laurent can ask Nicaise to explain, the teen begins to speak.

“The other day, a guy that looked kind of like Damen, but older and not as cute, met with Uncle after dinner. I don’t want to….” Nicaise trails off, pursing his lips. Laurent knows that Nicaise doesn’t want to make any false claims. Gossiping with Uncle can garner his affections when the gossip proves true, but when it’s false, the consequences are painful. 

“He’s double crossing Damen.”

“Should we let him know?”

“No,” Laurent answers decisively. “It’s not our place. But you should keep an eye out. If Uncle has something planned, I want as much information as possible.”

A smile appears on Nicaise’s face which is the last thing that Laurent expects. He had anticipated that Nicaise was going to argue with him, complain about having to pay attention to Uncle at all and propose that they just tell Damen so that he can have suitable notice. Instead the teen looks pleased, happy even.

“What?” 

“You’re scheming again,” is Nicaise’s response.

Laurent only scoffs and slides off of the bed. When he looks back up, Nicaise is wearing an all too familiar expression. It’s the same expression that Laurent receives when he tells Nicaise that he’ll take him driving tomorrow instead. It’s the same look that he gets when Nicaise asks him if he got out of bed that day. Or if he showered. Or if he brushed his teeth. Or ate. Laurent is just… so tired.

The worst part is that Laurent should be taking care of Nicaise, but too often it feels like it is the other way around. It shouldn’t be this way, but Laurent doesn’t know how to pull himself out of this funk. 

He takes a step forward and ruffles Nicaise’s hair. Nicaise is conceited enough that he would tell Laurent not to ruin his hair, but the moment is the perfect mix of awkward and tender. Nicaise is struck dumb. That certainly doesn't happen often. When Laurent steps back, he offers the teen a smile, albeit forced. 

“I love you, Nic.”

“What’s wrong with you?”

Laurent rarely professes his love for anyone. One reason being that he doesn’t love many people. Another being that he typically prefers to show his love through his actions. Lately he has not been able to express his love through actions, but he still thinks Nicaise should know. The words feel sticky in his mouth, but he can tell they mean a lot of Nicaise.

In typical deVere fashion, Nicaise has fastened his lips into a straight line. Anyone else would have no idea what he was thinking or feeling. Laurent knows. They have only known each other for three years, but Nicaise emulated a lot of Laurent’s habits and defense mechanisms. Some of them Laurent wishes he hadn’t. There is a lot about his own personality that Laurent would change, and that only makes it harder to see Nicaise replicate those aspects.

“Laurent,” Nicaise calls when Laurent is already across the room. “I love you, too…”

It’s such a visceral reaction, on Laurent’s part, to turn his head instead of showing Nicaise the smile that is growing on his face. He is without a doubt more open towards Nicaise than anyone else in his life, but even that has its limits. 

He pats the doorway as an acknowledgement of sorts before he leaves, closing the door behind him because he is not a monster. Being just slightly more emotionally vulnerable than he typically is has left Laurent tired. He’s always tired, but it’s nice to have an excuse this time.

^^^^^

The next week, Damianos shows up at the deVere house again. He feels significantly less prepared this time. He has no idea what they are going to talk about, and he genuinely just wants to get this over with. Hopefully he’ll come up with an excuse as to why he cannot return in another week. He’s not sure he can handle another monotonous meeting with this man. 

As he walks through the house, he makes note of the door that leads to Nicaise’s room. This time it is ajar. Damen doesn’t peek in. He would never intrude on the boy’s privacy like that, but he can’t say that he doesn’t consider it. Every other door in the hallway is closed. Last week, Nicaise’s door had been closed as well. Hence Damen thinking it was the bathroom. So why is it open this week?

The conversation with Mr. deVere is much the same as last week. He talks about what his current position is at Akielon Industries and what responsibilities that entails. It’s all stuff that Mr. deVere already knows. Discussing it feels unnecessary, but he doesn’t know what else they would talk about. Yet their discussion doesn’t even last for ten minutes before it is interrupted.

The door opens, and Nicaise is walking into the room. Damen, who had been talking about what he hopes to achieve when he takes over the company, trails off. Mr. deVere’s previously encouraging face becomes hard and stern as he turns to face Nicaise.

“Damen needs to take me driving now,” is the teenager’s explanation for interrupting them.

Damen doesn’t even feel his own mouth move when he says, “now?”

“Yes, now. I have a paper due at midnight.”

Mr. deVere raises his eyebrows and makes a motion with his hand that Damen takes as a sign that he can go. He decides not to question this situation. Not yet at least. Nicaise might not know it, but he has just saved Damen from a potentially very awkward evening. Whatever is actually going on, Damen wants to get out first.

He follows Nicaise through their house and out the door. When they get to his car, Damen pulls out his keys and unlocks the door. Before he drops the keys into the boy’s awaiting hands, he asks, “have you driven before?”

“Yes.”

Damen takes a deep breath and makes a silent prayer for his car before his fingers release the keys. Nicaise’s face lights up, and he runs to the driver’s side of the car. When Damen opens his side and gets in, Nicaise is already adjusting the seat and the rearview mirror. 

“Okay, so are you going to tell me what’s going on before we start?”

Nicaise turns his head, a baffled look on his face. “What? You actually wanted to keep talking to my uncle?”

All Damen can do is purse his lips and nod slowly. He doesn’t want to agree with him outright, but he also doesn’t want to lie. Instead he decides to remind Nicaise to adjust the side view mirrors as well. Nicaise doesn’t comment on that, instead he decides to change the subject away from Mr deVere as he does as Damen suggested.

“Laurent couldn’t manage to get your phone number last week, so I thought I should take things into my own hands.”

“You could have gotten my number for him.”

Nicaise doesn’t acknowledge that. He simply turns his head to look behind him as he starts backing up. Damen can tell that he’s slightly nervous. Not only has Nicaise never driven his car before, but it’s clear that he has not had as much practice as he had led Damen to believe. His poor car… 

They’re just driving around the neighbourhood. At this point, Damen is familiar enough with this suburb by now that he knows his way around without having to think about it. Obviously Nicaise knows his own neighbourhood as well. There also are not many cars out. Both of these factors ease Damen’s worries quite a bit. It will also make it easier for him to assess Nicaise’s general abilities. 

“Is Laurent okay?” Damen finds himself asking.

“What do you mean?”

“It’s just…” What does he mean exactly? “He said that he hasn’t been taking you driving which is obvious.” Nicaise huffs out a breath as he directs a quick glare to Damen. Damen ignores it. “And Mr. deVere asked him about eating last week.”

“Oh. Yeah. Laurent is just… ” It sounds like Nicaise is thinking over his words. His eyes stay on the road, and his face is stoical. Damen looks away, not expecting any more to be said. For some reason, Nicaise allows the flood gates to open. “I don’t know. He’s tired all the time. Some days he barely leaves his bed. I bring him food sometimes, but I still have school so I can’t make sure he’s eating breakfast and lunch.”

In this moment, Nicaise sounds just as open and vulnerable as Laurent had sounded last week. It’s nice to know that the feelings are mutual. Damen has no idea what the relation is between them, but they love each other and that’s more than enough. He can’t remember the last time he felt that connection with Kastor.

As for the actual content of Nicaise’s words, the solution seems fairly obvious to Damen. He has some experience in this field. Damen remembers when his mother was first diagnosed with cancer and then, not long after, depression as well. It was slightly difficult to differentiate between the symptoms of the cancer and depression. Years of experience taught Damen what the true symptoms of depression are. There was even a time when the cancer recurred after a promising period of remission where Damen started noticing similar symptoms in himself.

“It sounds like Laurent is depressed,” Damen acknowledges, aiming for a light yet serious tone. He’s not sure if the lightness comes across.

The car slows to a stop, as Nicaise pulls to the side of the road. Damen wonders for a split second if he is about to get kicked out of his own car for what he has just said. No, Nicaise isn’t allowed to drive without an adult in the car. He wouldn’t break the law like that even in his own neighbourhood, right? Right?

Nicaise puts the car in park and turns to face Damen. His eyebrows are knit together like he’s angry, but his eyes don’t have the same fire. His eyes alone look just as concerned as they had when he was talking about Laurent.

“What? Laurent is  _ not _ depressed,” Nicaise states decidedly. 

“Okay,” Damen says. He maintains his cool so as not to further shake Nicaise. “You know him better than I do. Where are we going now?”

Nicaise doesn’t acknowledge the attempt to change the subject, doesn’t even put the car back into drive, doesn’t even look at Damen. Maybe it was a bad idea to even mention this. They were having a perfectly fine conversation before this. He was getting a good feel of what Nicaise’s skills are when it comes to driving. Now he has ruined the carefully cultivated rapport. Again. Maybe it wasn’t so carefully cultivated.

“Is Laurent depressed..?”

The crack in Nicaise’s voice almost breaks Damen’s heart. It reminds him of his own father’s voice when he told Damen that his mother had died. Both his father and Nicaise have a typically impassive manner, so it’s even more distressing to hear emotion in their voices. 

“How did I not notice?”

“Hey,” Damen soothes. “It’s not your fault. You’re still a kid.”

“I’m sixteen, not six,” he snaps.

Jesus. Damen knew that Nicaise was sixteen, but he didn’t consider the fact that Niciase is nearly a full ten years younger than him. Damen can’t think of the last time he was even in the same proximity as someone almost a decade younger than him. He feels so old. How is Nicaise a fully functioning human being who can compose his own sentences? How can someone who is a decade younger than him even drive?

“Sometimes it’s harder to notice when you’re closer to the person,” Damen explains instead of voicing his shock at their age difference. 

“What do I…” 

Damen thinks about Nicaise’s situation and then tries to place himself somewhere in there where it doesn’t feel like he is intruding on their personal lives. This feels like a very intimate situation that he shouldn’t be a part of. He should tell Nicaise to talk to Laurent and get him to therapy. He should leave their family alone and focus on his own familial drama. 

But Nicaise is looking at him with so much fear and confusion. Nicaise needs a father figure right about now. No. He needs an older brother figure. 

Obviously Damen has never been an older brother before. His own experience with an older brother is limited to Kastor who acted like he still wanted to be an only child most of the time. There is part of Damen that has always wanted a younger sibling. That might be why Damen agrees to help. It might also be because when his own mother was sick, he wanted desperately for his brother to give him a shoulder to cry on. It might be because he wants to give Nicaise the very thing that he never had. 

“Come on. Let’s get some food, and we can talk about it more. I think Chick-fil-a is still open.”

Nicaise scrunches up his nose at that. “I am not in the mood for homophobic chicken.”

That is not the response that Damen was expecting, but it’s good that the boy’s humour is still intact. “Arby’s then?”

“Somehow that seems more homophobic,” is Nicaise’s response. “Let’s just go to Wendy’s or something.”

Damen nods at that idea. “Okay. We’ll just make it quick so you can get back in time to submit your paper.”

“There is no paper.”

Damen’s eyebrows knit together as he realizes that he fell for such a seemingly simple lie. Nicaise had said it with such confidence that Damen probably would have believed anything that came out of his mouth. The simplicity and finality of the lie just made it even more believable. Who taught this kid how to lie?

That’s irrelevant now. Damen gestures for Nicaise to continue driving. When he doesn’t, Damen pulls up the navigation app on his phone and types in the address. Nicaise doesn’t thank him, but he does start driving, giving Damen a worried glance when they encounter busier streets. Damen has already gotten himself into way more than he anticipated tonight. He might as well go all in. His white knuckle grip on the armrest is the only sign of his nerves.

Eventually they reach the restaurant, and Damen treats Nicaise to a ten piece nugget meal. For a gangly boy who barely reaches Damen’s chin, he sure can eat. Then again, so can Damen. Neither of them speak as they devour their food. Nicaise flicks a napkin at him at one point which earns a laugh from the both of them.

“Does Laurent have any friends?” Damen asks once he has finished his burger and is starting on his fries. 

“You’re a brute,” Nicaise scoffs as he watches Damen dip his fries into his frosty. “But no. As long as I’ve known him, he’s never had any friends.”

“How long have you known him?” 

Because Damen genuinely doesn’t know. He knew of Laurent, and he was familiar with Mr. deVere and Laurent’s father, the other Mr. deVere. Damen did not, however, know of Nicaise’s existence. Even his father had no recollection of a Nicaise when Damen asked him this past weekend. Damen isn’t used to knowing so little about the people he keeps in close company. 

“I was 13 when he moved in, so about three years. He came to live with us when his dad died. We weren’t that close at first because I was… different than I am now,” Nicaise shakes his head, effectively ending that train of thought. “He’s been through a lot. Sure, he’s a bitch, but… he saved me.”

Damen doesn’t ask. “You’re a bit of a bitch, too, you know,” Damen responds instead.

Nicaise laughs and throws a sauce container at Damen. It’s easy for Damen to deflect. “Who do you think I got it from?” Nicaise retorts. “Laurent is the prince of put-downs. Every retort I have, I owe to him.”

“Well, I can be his friend as long as he doesn’t destroy my self-esteem.”

“No promises,” Nicaise snickers.

“Do you think he would come if I asked him if to hang out with some of my friends?”

“It wouldn’t hurt to ask.”

He hums in response, wracking his brain for what helped his own mother aside from therapy. They have already discussed the possibility of getting Laurent to therapy. Nicaise wasn’t as familiar with his family’s insurance plan as would have been necessary to create any actual plans.

“I could try to get him a girlfriend.”

A fit of laughter that sits somewhere between shocked and amused escapes from the teenager’s mouth. When he finally controls his laughter, he says, “he would  _ not _ appreciate that.”

“Oh,” Damen breathes. “Boyfriend, then?”

Nicaise clicks his tongue twice, gives a wink, and points a finger gun at Damen. Spot on. 

It wouldn’t be all that difficult to set Laurent up with one of his friends. Laurent is attractive, to say the least, and Damen has plenty of friends who would probably love to give him a shot. But then again, it might not be a good idea to have Laurent become emotionally dependent on someone when he is at such a low point. Especially since young adult relationships are so often tenuous. 

But integrating Laurent into his friend group might not be a bad idea. As long as Pallas doesn’t try to flirt with him… Although Pallas has a boyfriend now and Laurent isn’t exactly his type anyway. Jord would probably get along well with him despite Laurent’s abrasive personality. Jord, as the group’s peacemaker, gets along with almost everyone. Nikandros is the only one who might cause some trouble, and Damen has a feeling Laurent will only exacerbate Nikandros’ negative feelings.

Yet there is something exciting about that prospect. Damen can predict how his friends will react to Laurent’s presence, but Laurent’s reactions are still somewhat of a mystery. A mystery that Damen is eager to uncover. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 18 shots. Your body is thanking you for all that water ;)


	3. Chapter Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content warning for this chapter. Nothing outside of what was mentioned in the actual trilogy, but this chapter is heavier than the previous two. Chapter four makes up for it, I promise.

Going into Laurent’s personal space feels like a terrible idea, but Nicaise is insistent. He claims that he won’t be able to summon the courage to talk to Laurent about this alone. Damen thinks that’s bullshit. Then Nicaise reminds Damen that he’ll need to get Laurent’s phone number if he wants to ask Laurent to hang out. Damen would argue that Nicaise could just give him his phone number, but it would probably creep Laurent out to text him out of the blue like that.

So Damen is here, watching as Nicaise knocks and calls out for Laurent before opening the door. His room is not anything that Damen could have predicted. 

It’s messy. That is undeniable. But it is not quite as disorderly as Damen would have thought. There are clothes and a few blankets strewn along the floor. On the nightstand, there are multiple glasses of water with varying amounts of water left. Upon closer inspection, there are also a few water bottles and books on the floor near his bed. On the bed, beside the lump, is yet another book, a tablet, and a phone. 

It’s messy, but it is not disgusting. It looks like there have been sporadic attempts to clean, but nothing entirely successful. 

The lump on the bed shifts as Nicaise turns on the light. There is a burst of gold from underneath the cover and then Damen catches icy blue eyes. Laurent squints at the change of brightness, using his arm to shield his eyes. 

“Nic... “ Laurent protests weakly. His voice is heavy with the signs of sleep, his hair hiding most of his face.

With Laurent speaking in his ‘morning’ voice and wearing just a loose white shirt, Damen feels like he truly is intruding on a very intimate moment of Laurent’s life. He should leave. He should clap Nicaise’s shoulder and wish him well. He should forget that he ever witnessed Laurent like this so that he can look him in the eyes at the next company function.

“Damen?” Laurent sounds more alarmed this time. He shakes his hair out of his face and pushes himself up so that his weight is resting on his arm. This position also allows gravity to pull the collar of his shirt down, exposing more of the pale skin of his neck and shoulder.

There is nothing that Damen can think of to say that will rectify this situation. One of his hands is shoved into his coat pocket while the other gives a small wave to Laurent before resting on Nicaise’s shoulder. Nicaise jumps slightly under his grip but does not move away from him, so Damen forgets about the movement as soon as it has happened.

“What time..?” Laurent pauses and taps his phone to turn it on. “I can’t imagine my uncle has willingly let you out of your meeting so soon.” Laurent sounds unfairly put together for someone who has just awoken. 

“I stole him away,” Nicaise answers plainly. “I wanted to go driving.”

Nicaise then walks up to the bed and sits down, forcing Laurent to sit up further in order to keep Damen in his line of sight. Damen isn’t sure what to do with his own body. He’s oddly aware of his hands and legs. Joining Nicaise and Laurent on the bed is clearly not an option, but neither is continuing to stand here in the middle of the room. God, Damen hasn’t felt this awkward since high school.

“He’s not bad. Just needs a bit more practice,” Damen explains. “If you give me your phone number, we could plan some more times for me to take him out.”

The amused look on Laurent’s face makes Damen think that he is about to be hit with one of the very retorts Nicaise was talking about earlier. Instead Laurent turns his gaze to Nicaise and asks, “Why didn’t you just give him your number?”

“He was worried people would think he was a pedophile if he had a teenager’s phone number,” Nicaise responds with a roll of his eyes.

“That’s not entirely-”

“Here,” Laurent cuts Damen off as he holds up his phone, appearing to unlock it before he tosses it to Damen. 

The only reason Damen manages to catch the phone is because he spent years playing sports that improved his reflexes. When he looks down at the phone, he realizes that he was correct; Laurent had been unlocking it. There is a plain clear phone case on it, and the background is a deep blue with a gold star in the center. Classy.

Damen types his name and then phone number into the contacts app. As he’s typing, he can hear Nicaise gushing about how he drove all the way to Wendy’s and how he had to cross traffic multiple times.

Then he looks up at the same time Laurent does. Damen is probably imagining the blush that he sees appear on Laurent’s face. Nicaise is still talking about their trip to Wendy’s, but Damen is so concentrated on making sure he is giving Laurent his due personal space that he does not even hear. He takes a few steps forward and hands Laurent back his phone. Laurent takes it with long, slender fingers, his eyes glued to Damen’s own.

“So you’re trying to turn my little cousin into a homophobe?”

Apparently not listening for just a moment was enough to miss a rather sharp change of subject. Damen thinks an awkward smile appears on his face as he wracks his brain for a suitable defense that isn’t ‘two of my best friends are gay’ or ‘I dated a few guys in college’. Neither of those seem appropriate.

Fortunately Nicaise speaks before he can. “You’re not my cousin, asshole.” His tone of voice leads Damen to believe that this is an argument that they have had plenty of times before.

For the first time since they came into his room, Laurent smiles. It’s an odd thing to smile at. His sense of humour should fit right into Damen’s friend group. And oh. That’s right. Damen had nearly forgotten.

“Laurent, would you want to hang out with me and my friends this weekend?”

The rare smile drops. “Alright, cut the act. What are you two plotting?”

Okay, so Damen probably could have been a little smoother with that transition. And with his wording of the question. And with his tone. Damen probably could have been a little smoother with the entire thing. He normally is. His people skills and charisma are unparalleled. His mother used to call him a ‘little charmer,’ and he tries to do that nickname justice. But Laurent has a strange ability to see right through him.

The silence that hangs in the air threatens to strangle him. Damen and Nicaise look at each other. For a split second, Damen thinks that Nicaise looks scared, but as soon as he sees it, it's gone. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. 

Damen is about to bite the bullet and break the silence, when Nicaise’s voice rings out. Rings out isn’t really the phrasing Damen would use on second thought. His voice sounds more forced, like the words are coming from a place deep down that he doesn’t visit often. Damen imagines that’s true enough.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were depressed?”

Laurent’s face drops as he looks at Nicaise. For a split second, Laurent looks up and shoots a murderous glare at Damen. The glare is so ephemeral, but its effects last in Damen’s system. Laurent is back to placating Nicaise, his hand grasping at Nicaise’s. 

“I should leave you,” Damen says quietly and then makes his way to the door.

Damen has a sinking suspicion that Laurent won’t be texting him to find out about hanging out. He didn’t think to text himself from Laurent’s phone, so he doesn’t have Laurent’s number which is, well it was an oversight to say the least. He was too distracted by… Laurent, he supposes. 

He makes sure to close the door completely on his way out. This is an important and overdue conversation. Damen does not want Mr. deVere to interrupt.

^^^^^

“I didn’t want to worry you, Nic,” Laurent explains calmly. “This is an important year for you. You should be focused on your schoolwork.”

“I don’t give a fuck about school!” 

Yelling isn’t something that either of them do very often. It’s something reserved for situations where they are truly and utterly frustrated. This must be one of those situations for Nicaise. His face looks angry, but his eyes are sad. Laurent hates seeing him like this.

He expects Nicaise to stand up and start ranting, listing all the reasons that Laurent should have told him ages ago. That’s not what he does. Nicaise simply closes his eyes and lets his head fall into Laurent’s lap. He grabs Laurent’s hand and starts fiddling with his fingers. Laurent sighs and uses his free hand to play with Nicaise’s hair. They always tend to fall into this position without needing to think about it.

“I thought we shared all of our trauma…”

Laurent feels that statement deep in his soul, stilling his hand. It hurts to remember the first time the two of them actually had a conversation. One that consisted of more than monosyllabic words and eye rolls. Laurent seriously struggled to break down Nicaise’s walls, and his own pride didn’t help him. 

Neither of them had expected to suddenly be living with another teenage boy. The tension grew as the two battled over his Uncle’s attention. That, in itself, is a memory that Laurent tried to bury deep but can never escape. Their relationship finally shifted when Laurent dealt with his grief and came to his senses. The lack of competition allowed Laurent and Nicaise to speak without the same animosity. Eventually Laurent offered to take the boy to get milkshakes, and they discussed parts of their pasts between sips.

Nicaise had been groomed for so long that he was offended when Laurent even suggested that his Uncle was not a good guy. That was to be expected; Laurent did not give up. It was only when Nicaise came to Laurent’s room with bruises one night a few weeks later that they both let their guards down and divulged their own experiences in full.

“I’m not going to leave you,” Laurent promises as he resumes combing his fingers through the boy’s hair. “There’s nothing to worry about.”

It’s the truth. Laurent still remembers the day Auguste killed himself, still blames himself for his death, still thinks that his life would be drastically better if he had just kept what happened that night to himself. He could never put Nicaise through the same thing. He refuses to put Nicaise through the same thing.

If he does, his Uncle wins.

“Look,” Laurent concedes with a deep breath. “What can I do to make you feel better about this?”

“Text him,” is Nicaise’s response after a few seconds of silence. It’s the answer that Laurent was partially expecting. “Go hang out with him and his friends. For me. I want to go to my friend’s house, and I don’t want to spend the entire time worrying about you. If I get along with Damen, then you should be able to, too.”

There are a lot of unknown variables involved with this plan, ones that Laurent would typically like to figure out before he agrees. But this is what Nicaise wants of him, and Laurent feels like he owes it to him. He hates feeling indebted in general, but he especially hates feeling indebted to someone because of his own guilt. 

“Alright.”

“Really?” Nicaise asks, sitting up so that he can meet Laurent’s eyes. “You’ll actually go through with it? This isn’t like when you said you were going back to school?”

“I’ll text him right now with you watching.”

Unlocking his phone should not be as intimidating as it is. Texting Damen will essentially make it impossible for him to back out at the last minute as is his usual. When Laurent opens his messages, he realizes that there is no past message to Damen. Damen doesn’t have his number yet. Now this message carries even more weight.

As for coming up with something to say, Laurent can’t seem to make his brain work fast enough. He hates texting enough as it is, and having Nicaise looking over his shoulder is just making it worse. Eventually he types out a message asking what day and time Damianos is planning on having his friends over. With a quick glance to Nicaise to make certain that text was satisfactory, Laurent turns his phone off and tosses it to the other side of the bed.

Nicaise stands up from the bed. “Okay. I’m going to go to bed, you’re going to text Damen back whenever he responds, and we’re both going to be okay. Right?”

“Of course.”

Damen responds almost as soon as Nicaise has left the room. Laurent has his phone on ‘do not disturb’, but the text comes in as soon as he picks up his phone. What timing.

**Damen** :  _ This friday around 6 but you can come whenever you want :) _

Then another one immediately after.

**Damen** : _ I can send you my address or I can pick you up. Whatever works for you! _

Laurent tells Damen to send the address, and he does not use any emojis or emoticons. He wants to be able to leave whenever he wants. Besides, if Nicaise wants to go to a friend’s house that day, Laurent should take him. Maybe he’ll even let Nicaise drive. It’s been weeks since he last took Nicaise out for a drive.

He’s been a pretty sad excuse for a big brother lately. At first after Laurent had moved in with his Uncle and Nicaise, he had been really good at getting out of bed every day and being productive. He even took Nicaise to school before his classes and picked him up when his afternoons were free. That was part of his plan to get Nicaise to open up to him. The decline was so slow that Nicaise, if he noticed, never pointed it out. Even Laurent had barely noticed, but from their smattering of conversations, his Uncle most certainly had.

Auguste hadn’t let his depression get in the way of his being a good brother (until the end, that is), so why is Laurent? 

That won’t be the case anymore. Laurent refuses to be held hostage by his own brain for any longer. Nicaise won’t let him. It’s a simple gathering with a man that Laurent has spoken to several times now and a few other men. Maybe the girlfriend will be there and Laurent will be able to have a reprieve from the overwhelming testosterone. 

A knock on the door pauses Laurent’s predictions for the weekend. It’s not Nicaise. Nicaise always calls out Laurent’s name before he opens the door. His Uncle, on the other hand, never announces himself using more than one method. If the knock is not enough, that is none of his concern. Laurent hates it. Laurent hates him. Every time he sees him, he feels nauseous. 

Sure enough the door swings open, and Uncle walks through the threshold, head held high as if he’s wearing a crown. And sure enough, Laurent feels nauseous as soon as he meets the man’s eyes. 

“Uncle,” Laurent greets between grit teeth.

“Laurent,” is his perpetual response. “I was curious if you had seen Damianos.”

“I was under the belief that he was with you,” Laurent lies without so much as a blink.

His Uncle takes a few steps forward, and Laurent can feel his heart rate increase. He cannot tell Uncle to back up and stay away from him. That would ruin the delicate arrangement that they have created over the past few years. Things aren’t great now, but they could certainly be worse. Laurent does not want to threaten that. So Laurent uses the hand that is hidden behind himself to grasp the bedsheets, an attempt to ground himself and not back away. 

Another issue is the power dynamic between their positions right now. Laurent would stand up to remedy this, but that would just put him even closer to his Uncle. If Laurent were stronger, he would do just that. But he is not. He is tired, both from sleeping all day and having such an emotionally draining conversation with Nicaise. He just wants to be done speaking to people for the day.

“No. Nicaise had business with him.”

“Then I don’t understand why you’re asking me instead of him,” Laurent retorts with a forced smile.

“I have other business with you as you might imagine.” Laurent has no control over the way fear stops his heart momentarily, but he should have been able to stop his eyes from widening. “Don’t be lewd. It has nothing to do with that.”

Laurent allows himself a moment to quell the panic in his body before he mutters, “please forgive my heinous assumption.” 

When his Uncle takes yet another stride forward and sits on the foot of his bed, Laurent freezes up. It takes every ounce of his willpower to not jump up and lock himself in the bathroom. It takes every ounce of his brainpower to prevent those memories from replaying in his mind.

“When can I expect to be paying your tuition again, hm?”

“It has only been a semester, Uncle…”

His Uncle turns his head slowly to look at Laurent. “If you’ll recall, it has been two, nephew.”

A wave of nausea flows throughout Laurent, and prevents him from maintaining eye contact as he typically would. The hardwood floor is much more palatable than his Uncle’s face. Laurent has nothing to say anyway. 

It has, as he ponders it, been a full year. He would be halfway through his junior year right now if he had not dropped out. It’s a bit disheartening to think of where he could be in his life had he experienced a normal adolescence. There is nothing he can do about that now. All he can do is focus on the present and the future. 

“My apologies. My mind is just so tired lately. I wouldn’t want to waste your money.”

Laurent can only refer to the look that appears on his Uncle’s face as  Schadenfreude.  “Poor boy.”

Uncle reaches over and slides his thumb under the line of Laurent’s jaw. In an ideal world, Laurent would spit in his face and then backhand him. Unfortunately this is far from an ideal world. Laurent closes his eyes, focusing on his breathing instead of the slow slide of skin on his face. 

“I forgive you. Take all the time you need.”

It would be comforting if he didn't know that the longer he takes to finish school, the longer his Uncle has to cement his ownership of the company that should rightfully be Laurent’s. The only thing that is comforting right now is the fact that the touch has stopped and his Uncle has stood up.

Laurent does not open his eyes until he hears his door open again. His Uncle is standing in the doorway, facing the hall. Laurent knows that Nicaise must be standing there before he even hears Nicaise’s voice. 

“What?” Nicaise snaps, always less inclined to mask his annoyance than Laurent.

It sounds as if Uncle says, “watch your tone,” but his voice is too hushed for Laurent to hear properly. He does know that Uncle sets his hand on Nicaise's shoulder and squeezes. Nicaise looks an odd mix of disgusted and infuriated. It’s an all too common expression for the boy, and Laurent is familiar with it himself. One day Laurent hopes to never see that look again.

His own expression must verge on completely exhausted because although Nicaise looks as though he was intending to come in, he doesn’t. Instead he raises his eyebrows at Laurent, silently asking if everything is okay. Laurent only waves him off. 

It’s not an answer to Nicaise’s question. 

^^^^^

Damen loves Jokaste. That is an undisputed fact. They have been dating since Damen graduated with his bachelor’s degree, and she even stuck with him as he got his master’s. He was not easy to be around while he was working on his master’s degree, so he has to give her credit for his patience. It might just be Damen’s imagination, but it does feel as though Jokaste’s patience has been running thin as of late.

Jokaste loves Damen, too. He knows she does. If he popped the question right now, she would probably say yes. In fact the only reason he hasn’t proposed is because Jokaste has mentioned a few times that she wants to wait until they are both settled in their intended careers. At the time, Damen was offended. He thought Jokaste didn’t have faith in his ability to become CEO of his father’s own business. 

Now he realizes that she’s more perceptive than him. Even when it comes to matters of his own family. There’s nothing wrong with that. It will be a great asset when they finally do get married and she uses her insight to help him out of tricky familial drama. 

If. If they get married.

There are a few factors that are preventing that from happening, the most obvious being that Damen suddenly has competition when it comes to inheriting Akielon Industries. There is another reason though. It’s a reason that Damen has not entirely fleshed out yet. He would even refer to it as a shrew of an emotion. An emotion so small and hidden that he’s not even sure it’s really there. But it most certainly presents itself whenever Damen starts thinking about marriage.

“What do you get out of giving the kid driving lessons?”

She says it without looking up from her phone, barely even pausing as she scrolls through Instagram. Damen sets his own down and turns to look at her. 

She has her hair in a bun on the top of her head, glasses resting on the bridge of her nose. She is still just as beautiful as the day they met, at a party his father was throwing. She walked in, and immediately all eyes were on her. Her presence is still so undeniable. 

“Obviously I get on Mr. deVere’s good side, but it’s not like it really matters,” Damen explains. “If I was learning to drive when my mother was sick, I would want someone to do the same.”

“I just think there are better ways to garner his good graces,” she says offhandedly. “You can’t go around offering charity to everyone.”

Damen shifts in the bed so that his entire body is facing her, propping his head up with his hand. Jokaste sighs and finally puts her phone down. Her expression says that she is not in the mood for any joking around, but after the night Damen has had, he’s not sure he is either. He knows he’s not in the mood for Jokaste’s apathy when it comes to the less fortunate.

“And why not? If I have the ability to help someone, why shouldn’t I?”

“You’re so naïve sometimes,” she scoffs. “At least with charity, you get a tax break. Helping the human void and the little boy is not tax deductible.”

“Oh my god,” Damen laughs with absolutely no humor. He flips so that he’s lying on his back again. “How can you call Laurent a ‘human void’ and then say  _ that _ ? You’re unbelievable!”

“I’m logical, Damianos.” She never calls him ‘Damianos’. “You need to stop killing yourself to help people that aren’t going to help you. This is why Kastor is so close to taking the company from you.”

Ouch. Bringing up Kastor is a low blow. Especially since it almost feels like Jokaste knew what he was planning. She might have. She has a knack for reading people, and she is just so damn smart.

“Taking a teenager driving is hardly killing myself.” 

With that, Damen turns off the lamp on his bedside table and closes his eyes. The lamp on Jokaste’s side is still on. She usually keeps it on for a few more minutes when she’s reading a book, but since she’s on her phone, she’s most likely keeping it on due to spite. Petty. She’s always been so petty.

But Damen loves her, loves her intelligence and wit. He loves the way that she can convince almost anyone to do anything which might be down to her manipulative tactics, but Damen would be lying if he said he didn’t have a soft spot for those, too. Jokaste is objectively gorgeous so he obviously loves the way she looks as well, but he loves the way that her mind works. She’s fascinating.

He loves the way that she gets along with his family. Although for some reason, she does not get along with his friends. While his dad treats her like a part of the family, Nikandros gets scarily quiet whenever she’s around. Pallas ignores her to the best of his ability. Even Jord feels uncomfortable in her presence.

It’s probably the concept of meeting his friends that takes Damen’s mind to Laurent. There are certain qualities that both Laurent and Jokaste share such as their colouring and their taciturn natures upon first meeting. Maybe it’s their similarities that drew Damen to Laurent in the first place, but Damen can’t deny that he is still just as captivated and intrigued. 

This Friday should be interesting. He’ll have to ask the boys if they see the similarities as well. They’re sure to tell him before he even asks. They will probably tell him as soon as Laurent walks into the room.

Jokaste’s light flicks off, and she shifts around to find a comfortable position. Damen looks over at her, trying to use just the light of the moon from their window to make out her temper. From the fact that her back is turned, she’s still frustrated. ‘Never go to bed angry’ is what all elderly couples advise, but Damen can’t find it in himself to apologize first. He doesn’t have anything to apologize for. 

Jokaste would never apologize first. She has never and will never apologize first. It’s one of the most frustrating things about her. Damen loves her, but she has a lot of faults that he’s not sure if he can overlook.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nicaise is basically the main character at this point. idc idc


	4. Chapter Four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: extensive references to rom-coms, specifically the movie Love Actually. Might be confusing if you've never watched the movie before. It's on Peacock for free if you're in the States. It's a continued reference through the next few chapters too, but it's not a huge deal lmao.
> 
> Also references to underage drinking? Kind of? (If I write a story that takes place in the US, you can bet the drinking age is going to be a point of conflict.)

Nicaise has been ignoring his friends in order to look after Laurent. That’s the conclusion Laurent has come to after he asks Nicaise if that is the case only to have Nicaise respond with, “I see them at school almost every day.” It’s embarrassing to say the least. Nicaise is supposed to be experiencing the joys of adolescence that Laurent missed out on. Laurent refuses to hold him back anymore.

The smile on Nicaise’s face as he got out of the car and ran up to his friend is the sole thing driving Laurent to keep driving. Driving and driving until his phone tells him that his destination is on the right. The driveway is large enough to accommodate his car along with the multiple other cars already here, so he pulls in.

Instead of instantly getting out of the car, he gives himself a moment to listen to the rest of the song that is playing. He keeps his eyes closed as he lets the sound waves travel through him, only opening them when the last note plays. His eyes focus on Damen’s house in front of him.

Damen is walking out of the front door, making his way toward Laurent’s car while waving his hands. Laurent turns his car off and opens the car door. He slips his keys into the pocket of his jeans after he locks his car. Better safe than sorry. By the time he is done, Damen is in front of him, wearing nothing but jeans and a t-shirt that, from the way it hugs his muscles, is a bit too small. Laurent’s not sure why he didn’t put on a sweatshirt. It’s cold out. Even the long sleeves of Laurent’s button up are not enough to fully protect him from the chill. Damen must be freezing.

“Why did you tell Nicaise I was depressed?” Laurent asks forcefully before Damen can even greet him. The smile disappears from Damen’s face.

“You are depressed.” A fact.

Laurent crosses his arms, partially to shield himself from Damen’s gaze and partially to keep himself warm. “I can handle myself.”

“I don’t doubt that, but why would you? You have people who love you and care-”

“I have Nicaise,” Laurent interrupts. “But he’s sixteen, and I don’t need him worried about my wellbeing.”

Damen’s face softens, and he reaches out his hand. Laurent stares at it but does not make any motion to take it. Damen is forced to make a fist as he pretends that Laurent did not just reject his offering. He doesn’t let the disappointment show on his face, but his body language adjusts to show his discomfort. 

The cold, on the other hand, appears to not even affect Damen. The bare skin of his arms are free of goosebumps. Not that Laurent is staring. Damen simply has large arms, and they are taking up a lot of Laurent’s field of vision.

“Were you ever going to tell him?”

“That’s between me and him,” Laurent counters, his eyebrows furrowed.

Laurent expects Damen to continue arguing that Nicaise loves him and wants to know how Laurent is truly doing. Laurent doesn’t remember much about Damianos from their business interactions, hardly paid him any mind other than to internally recognize his good looks, but he does remember that he was never one to back down from an argument. There were a couple times Laurent even remembers seeing one of those rivals getting so frustrated that they left. 

Damen does the opposite in this situation.

“I know that. I’m sorry for intruding,” Damen apologizes, rubbing his arm with his hand. “But now you have me, too.”

A surprised laugh escapes from Laurent’s mouth. The bitter kick to it turns the laugh into more of a snicker. “You barely know me.”

“Sure,” he acknowledges. “But I have plenty of love to give.”

Laurent’s expression says everything for him. The raise of his eyebrows asks if that’s really the statement that Damen landed on. The deprecating smile tells him that he sounded ridiculous and clichéd. Really, Laurent had higher hopes for his response than that. At this point he might have even preferred an argument.

Yet his heart still skips a beat at the prospect of Damen giving him his love. 

“Laugh all you want, but I know there’s a reason you’re here.” The unspoken words that follow are, ‘other than to berate me for exposing you to Nicaise.’

He’s right of course. Rebuking Damen was really just a perk of coming here, but if he wants to get on with the rest of the evening, he needs to let his guard down. Just a bit. Laurent takes a step forward, uncrossing his arms, and lightly brushing his hand over Damen’s bicep. 

Years of dealing with his Uncle have given him the ability to make his face indecipherable. He uses that to his advantage as he feels the muscles tense, Damen’s skin unbelievably warm beneath his cold hand. It’s meant to be a brief touch, but it lingers both physically and mentally. Laurent’s fingers tingle even after they have finally left Damen’s skin. It tells Laurent a lot about Damen and his own response to physical contact with Damen. Manageable except for the quick flutter of his heart. His face does not heat up, so he counts it as a win.

“You’re right,” he says, reveling in the shock Damen is clearly experiencing. “So are you going to keep letting me tease you or are you going to introduce me to your friends?”

Damen smiles, turning and gesturing towards the front door. They walk in silence for a few seconds, Damen opening the door for Laurent, until Damen speaks. Laurent can hear the faint voices of several men bickering with each other. The noise sounds like it’s coming from a distant room, and Laurent has a suspicion that they’re downstairs.

“I dare you to act as out of touch as possible,” is how Damen breaks the silence.

“What do I get out of it?” Laurent asks, glancing up at Damen. He’s still smiling. Maybe he never stopped. That damned dimple is taunting Laurent.

“The satisfaction of fucking with people.”

It’s something that Laurent would have likely done on his own, but it’s even more interesting when someone else is in on it. Laurent can’t stop the corners of his lips from quirking upwards. Somehow Damen knows just how to intrigue him. Or maybe it’s just who Damen is. Laurent isn’t sure which one is worse.

They have stopped in front of a door. From the direction of the sound, his friends are just beyond that door. So Laurent nods and allows Damen to open the door for him, again. There are stairs beyond the door which prove both of Laurent’s theories correct.

There are only three men sitting on the couches in the middle of the room. From the noise, Laurent had assumed there were more, but clearly his friends are just loud. At the moment, the three of them are all concentrated on the tv in front of them, one of the men occasionally shoving the other two whenever a character is killed. As Laurent nears them, he can tell that they’re playing some sort of game. Laurent knows nothing about it.

“Laurent’s here,” is the only introduction Damen gives as he sits on one of the sofas. 

One of the men who had been getting shoved finally turns his head, a smile adorning his face. “Yo! Pallas, your white guy du jour is here!” In the middle of his sentence, the man does one of the most obvious double takes Laurent has ever witnessed.

“Shut the fuck up, Jord,” the second man, Pallas presumably, snaps with no real bite. As opposed to the first man, Pallas barely even glimpses at Laurent. “I have a boyfriend now. Besides, I’m not into twinks.”

Laurent’s mouth opens slightly in surprise. Although it is clear from even a cursory look at Pallas that he is the pot calling the kettle a twink. Laurent ignores him and follows Damen’s lead. As the other three men are all on the same couch, he chooses the sofa that Damen is on. He sits as far away from Damen as is physically possible without being obvious. Damen glances over at Laurent.

“My vulgar friend is Pallas,” Damen explains.

“I know you’re not trying to act like you’re a saint!” Pallas calls out.

Damen ignores him and continues with the introductions. “Jord’s the only one keeping this group sane.”

“They’d be lost without me,” Jord replies, glancing over at Laurent with a definitive sparkle in his eye. A shame, really.

“And the silent guy is Nikandros.” Damen leans over so that his head is inches away from Nikandros’ and says, “what are you thinking about, Nikki boy?” Laurent ignores the unwelcome smile that threatens his face as he listens to Damen draw out the ‘y’ sound in ‘boy’. 

Nikandros seems to be a very stubborn man with, what Laurent would guess are, strong morals. The love he has for Damen is undeniable though. Their friendship clearly has years of history behind it. 

When Nikandros finally speaks, his voice is monotone in a way that is clearly very practiced but not his normal. “You know exactly what.” His voice is sharp, and Laurent suddenly has a goal for tonight.

“Do you want to play a round?” Laurent hears from behind him.

It’s Jord, standing just far enough away to not be threatening but close enough to not be strange. He is holding a controller and gesturing slightly to the television. A quick glance is enough to figure out that the last round has ended. Laurent has no idea who won, but he can tell it was a green dinosaur character. 

“I’ve never played before,” Laurent replies.

It isn’t even an attempt to play dumb. Laurent was more into reading books than playing games. Even Auguste found playing sports more interesting than playing video games. He really has had no exposure to video games before this very moment. He almost feels embarrassed to be taken so aback by something that should be simple.

“That’s okay. I can teach you.”

Laurent shrugs and gestures for Jord to take a seat beside him. Jord looks more excited than he should as he accepts the invitation. Laurent hopes he’s not leading this nice man on. He doesn’t really care for the man’s feelings, but the repercussions are likely to be awkward if Damen thinks that is the case.

It’s not that Jord is unattractive. That’s far from the case. His skin is dark and free of blemishes aside from a few small scars. Laurent is sure that there are plenty of men, women, and others who would love to date him. He might even be part of that group if Jord didn’t have the unfortunate position of sitting right next to Damen.

“He can use mine,” a voice calls from the other couch. Pallas is waving his controller above his head and then flinging it towards them. Damen catches it with one hand before it can hit Laurent in the face. “I’m going on TikTok.”

“What’s TikTok?” Laurent questions. 

The room goes silent save for the background music of the game. Everyone, even Nikandros, is staring at him now. Laurent maintains his cool composure as the words of disbelief trickle in. For a second it looks like Damen believes him, too, but he is quick to play along.

“He doesn’t get out much.”

He would have preferred Damen to back him up in a way that does not make him out to be a troglodyte, but it’s too late for that now. Besides, it’s not necessarily untrue. This is the first time Laurent has left the house since the last business gathering aside from mundane trips to the store.

But Laurent does know what TikTok is. He lives with a teenager; he would need to be deaf and blind to have avoided it. He is neither deaf nor blind. Nicaise has tried to teach him several dances and even forced Laurent to take him to the store so that he could buy trendy clothes and makeup. Laurent might not understand the excitement surrounding it, but he’s nothing if not supportive of Nicaise. 

“Holy shit, we are going to corrupt your new friend,” Pallas proclaims. Laurent smirks at the idea of any of these men corrupting him. Not possible.

Damen hands the controller over Jord directly to Laurent. Laurent looks over the controller, trying to comprehend the buttons and joysticks. Fortunately Jord gives a brief explanation upon seeing Laurent’s confusion. It’s not too complicated. Eventually Laurent understands which colour cursor represents him and he picks the first character that sticks out to him.

“You know, Pikachu and Link are really strong,” Jord suggests as if Laurent has any inkling of what that means.

“I like the pink blob,” is Laurent’s defense. 

Jord laughs softly. “Damen always plays as Peach, so you do you.”

“That’s Princess Peach to you, dickwad.” Damen is grinning as he speaks, but for some reason Laurent can’t see his dimple. He knows he wasn’t imagining it. Maybe it’s the lighting or the way he’s smiling. “Now let’s fuckin’ go! I’m gonna kick all your asses.”

Laurent loses the first round. He falls off of the map a few times and gets killed by the other three men until he’s officially dead. In Jord’s defense, he apologizes when he kills Laurent. Damen laughs every time Laurent dies. Nikandros continues to ignore his existence. It’s not surprising at this point. It’s also not all that surprising that Damen ends up winning the round. He demands that Jord apologize to Peach for the disrespect, but Laurent’s mind is still thinking over the game.

“Again,” his mouth says before his brain can catch up.

“You actually gonna try this time?” Damen teases, leaning over so that his view of Laurent is not blocked by Jord. 

“Eat my ass,” Laurent answers eloquently.

A chorus of ‘oh’s with laughter trickled in fills the room, but they start the next game immediately. This time Laurent has a better grasp of the game. He understands his pink character’s abilities and powers and most importantly, he understands what the point of the game is. 

This round lasts longer. Laurent makes sure not to fall off the map this time and even elicits a reaction from Nikandros as he kills him. The reaction comes in the form of a whispered “you little shit,” and it makes Laurent smile. It’s even more satisfying because his hit provides enough damage to kill Nikandros’ character for the round. Damen takes care of Jord which leaves the two of them to fight each other.

Neither of them even bother to taunt each other. Laurent is too busy dodging Damen’s attacks and planning the best timing for his own. Damen is too busy throwing everything that Peach has against Laurent. Two very different strategies, but Laurent has faith in his own. He manages to float upwards and turn his character into an anvil right on top of Princess Peach. Peach dies.

“Fuck!”

“No shit…” Nikandros exclaims, eyes glued to the screen that proclaims Kirby as the winner. 

Everyone else’s eyes, even Pallas’, are glued to Laurent who is not all that surprised that he won. It’s a fairly simple game, and he was able to do a lot of damage by just pressing random buttons. Now he has a good idea of which buttons relate to which moves, and he also understands the strengths and weaknesses of his Kirby character.

“Beginner’s luck,” Nikandros huffs. “Let’s play again.”

Damen narrows his eyes at Laurent, a smile playing at his lips. His eyes might be narrowed, but through his thick lashes, Laurent can see the sparkle of playfulness. Still no dimple though. Laurent has multiple things to unearth tonight, but right now he needs to prove himself by winning again. Which he does. 

All of the boys put up more of a fight this time, but Laurent lets them fight each other before he enters the fray in a real way. This time Jord and Damen are the first two out. Nikandros is playing as a green dinosaur, the same one that had won the game Laurent entered on. He can hear Damen explaining away his loss to Pallas and Jord. He’s pouting, and Laurent is almost tempted to look. But Nikandros’ dinosaur is almost dead. When Laurent glances at the namecard at the bottom of the screen, which identifies his character as Yoshi, his damage is over 100. 

It only takes one solid round of kicks for Kirby to be declared the winner again. 

“Beginner’s luck?” Laurent mocks. 

“Damn, bitch, he got you,” Pallas laughs, clapping Nikandros on the back. 

“Yeah, yeah,” Nikandros shoves him off. His frustration shouldn’t satisfy Laurent as much as it does. “Let’s just watch a god damn movie.”

Pallas stands up at that idea, his phone still playing whatever video he was watching on loop. “As it’s officially Christmas time, I suggest ‘Love Actually’.”

Damen gasps at the same time that Nikandros and Jord groan. Jord starts arguing about how horribly that movie aged and how romantic comedies are annoying anyway. Laurent only hears about half of his argument. The bulk of his concentration is on Damen who is now also standing and talking about how much he loves the movie with Pallas. Nikandros is just massaging his temples in silence. 

Eventually Damen turns to face Laurent and Jord. His eyes are wide, his smile so pure. Even his hair seems like it has gotten fluffier to represent his excitement. His presence reminds Laurent of a puppy. He’s never particularly had an affinity for dogs, but he certainly has an affinity for Damen. 

Right now Damen could ask him to commit a felony, and Laurent would gladly do so. It’s no surprise that when the deciding vote between ‘Love Actually’ and ‘Die Hard’ comes down to Laurent, he chooses ‘Love Actually’. Jord, who has been so kind to him tonight, sounds exasperated, but Laurent can’t be bothered to care about that when Damen is dapping up Pallas in victory and then doing something of a victory dance.

Laurent would be lying to himself if he said he wasn’t smitten. He’s fine with lying to others, but he finds it best to remain honest with himself so that he can better control his emotions. Not that he is always successful at doing so, but he tries. It is difficult to control feelings one doesn’t know are there. Emotions are complicated enough as it is.

“If we’re going to watch a rom-com, I’m going to need a drink,” Nikandros grumbles.

“Oh! Is it time for a drink journey? A spirit swing?” 

“A liquor run,” Jord cuts Damen off before he can continue listing synonyms. “Yes. It’s on Pallas for suggesting the movie. Damen, you drive.”

Laurent doesn’t miss the confused glance that Damen sends Jord’s way before he agrees with a, “yes, captain.”

Laurent follows the group up the stairs and out to the driveway. They aren’t even able to argue about seating positions before Damen runs back inside to grab a jacket. The sun had already set when Laurent first arrived, but it is truly dark outside now and the temperature reflects that. If Laurent had left a jacket in his car, he would be getting it right now. Hopefully he won’t be outside for long.

When Damen returns with a black sweater on, both Pallas and Nikandros call shotgun. There are many things in this world that Laurent does not care about, but where he sits in a car full of others is not one of them. It only takes one meaningful look at Damen to get his way. The one glimpse is enough to remind Damen of the other night and guilt him into giving the front passenger's seat to him.

“Of course,” Nikandros mutters at the same time that Pallas whines, “what does he have on you?”

The three of them continue complaining as they pile into the backseat. Laurent slides into the passenger’s seat comfortably. It’s interesting to imagine Nicaise driving this car. He has utter faith in Nicaise, but it would have definitely been an adjustment from Laurent’s car. Laurent allows his hand to trace over the gear shift and parking brake. The keys are sitting in the cup holder which is an interesting choice for such a nice car.

Damen is so quick about hopping into the driver’s seat that Laurent does not have the time to move his hand. Their hands collide as Damen goes for the keys. The touch feels electric, like the energy from Damen’s body has entered Laurent’s through their fingers.

“Sorry,” Laurent mumbles under his breath, turning his head the opposite direction in case a blush has decided to invade his cheeks. He stares out the window until Damen has started the car.

The drive is relatively uneventful. Laurent spends most of it half-listening to the conversations that the others are having while staring out the window. Now that it’s officially December, people have started putting up their Christmas lights and flamboyant inflatable yard decorations. Laurent enjoys looking at them, but he also enjoys stealing glances at Damen as he drives. 

He looks so calm and focused at the same time. His eyes are illuminated by the streetlights and headlights of the passing cars, making sparks of red and white flash through the deep brown and black. His nose is strong and large. Even his jawline is unfairly defined. Every part of Damianos reminds Laurent of why he likes men. 

The car pulls into a parking spot before Laurent even realizes they have arrived. The boys in the back clamber out and immediately start arguing about what to buy. After seeing the huge sign for the liquor store, Laurent follows them to the sidewalk and then stands beside the store to wait for them. It’s cold, but hopefully they will make haste. Damen is halfway through the door by the time he notices that Laurent is not behind him. 

“Are you okay? What’s up?” Damen asks with genuine concern in his voice.

“I can’t go in.”

Damen lets the door close as he walks towards him. “Why not?”

“I’m only twenty,” Laurent explains, having thought that Damen already knew.

Evidently, Damen did not know his age. His eyes go wide at Laurent’s explanation. “Are you serious?” 

“Yes,” Laurent responds as he looks up at Damen curiously. “How old did you think I was?”

Damen shrugs and leans up against the brick of the building. The way the streetlights hit his profile accentuates his features in just the right way. “I guess I thought you were 24 or something…”

Laurent isn’t sure that there is another soul in the universe who thinks he could pass for 24, but there’s something comforting about Damen thinking he was older and still wanting to be around him. Although he might just be used to his Uncle always wishing he was younger. That man has no place in Laurent’s mind right now.

“Do I look that old?”

“No, no!” Damen is quick to correct himself, putting his hands up defensively. “You just- wait a minute. That’s not old. I’m 25.”

Laurent gives Damen a brief once over before saying, “and you look like it.”

For a second Damen looks like he’s about to hit him, but it would be far too telling to flinch if he does not. So Laurent keeps his arms crossed and maintains his posture. Instead, Damen just slaps his hand over his heart and says, “damn! You  _ wound _ me, Laurent.”

The smile that appears on his face does not come without a fight, but Damen’s theatrics are charming in the most ridiculous way. The warmth that fills his chest is almost enough to protect him from the cold that is gnawing at his skin. Damen starts smiling lopsidedly back at him, and suddenly Laurent forgets that his entire body is on the verge of shivering.

“Are you cold?” Damen asks, taking a step towards him. 

“It’s December.” Barely, but still.

Damen lets one hand slide into his hair as he tips his head forward in frustration. “Be straightforward for once in your life.”

Laurent purses his lips, his eyes not leaving Damen. For someone who has only known him for a short time, Damen has certainly picked up on his habits and defense mechanisms fairly quickly. It’s almost intimidating to know that Damen can see through him already, but there’s no immediate harm in admitting his temperature status.

“A little…”

Damen looks back up at Laurent. His mouth is not smiling but his eyes certainly are. Laurent forces himself to look away, but it does not last long. As soon as he sees movement in his peripheral, he looks back. Damen is taking off his top which reveals a lot of skin. Abs. V-lines leading downwards. Hair trailing downwards. Even in the relative darkness, Laurent can make out everything. Then nothing. 

Or rather, a shirt covering what once was. He knows his face is red, but he can’t look away.

“Here.” The offering is his sweater. The sweater that he ran back in the house to get for himself because he knew it was cold. Laurent is hesitant to take it. “I’m not putting it back on, so you might as well.”

He takes the sweater, warm and soft against his hands. It’s cashmere, of course. Who doesn’t love cashmere. As he pulls it over his head, he is intensely aware of Damen watching him. The feeling is even more overwhelming when combined with the scent of Damen that he is now breathing in. It’s subtle and slightly woodsy, like expensive cologne. His scent is gentle, unexpected from such a large, intense man.

Another surprising fact is how warm the sweater is from Damen’s body heat. The man must radiate heat like a fire. Laurent is accustomed to the cold, even likes it at most times, but he can never manage to keep himself warm. Even wearing a coat, his fingers are cold. Even wearing gloves, his nose is cold. There is no escape. Except… 

“Are you still cold?” Laurent doesn’t grace that with a response. Damen assumes, correctly as Laurent is unwilling to admit, that his lack of a response is equivalent to a positive response. 

Damen closes the distance between them by wrapping his arm around Laurent’s shoulders. Despite the warmth that engulfs him, Laurent freezes. It’s not the same feeling as when he freezes up because of unwanted touch. Instead of that cold, stomach dropping feeling of nausea, Laurent feels… nervous. Like he has been presented with an opportunity and he does not want to ruin it.

His warmth and his body is strangely comforting. It’s not a word that Laurent thought he would ever associate with someone other than his brother. Even Nicaise has never had a comforting presence. They’re both too tense to comfort each other through touch. Yet this is the second time that Damen had made him feel comfortable tonight.

“You smell nice,” Damen says quietly into Laurent’s hair.

Laurent turns his head to look at him. Damen is far closer than Laurent had thought, looking down at Laurent with those wonderfully kind brown eyes of his. The shock of their noses almost touching leads Laurent to whip his head back to its original spot, staring at the sidewalk in front of him. His mind replays just how close their faces had been, how if Laurent had leaned up on his tiptoes even just a bit, he could have pressed their lips together.

He wonders if Damen would have kissed him back… 

“I better,” Laurent says quietly. “I took a shower for this.”

The shaking tells Laurent that Damen is laughing. It’s a joke, but it’s not untrue. He wishes he could see Damen’s face. There is something indescribable about Damen’s face when he laughs. But Laurent can’t risk looking up yet. His face is far too red, and he still can’t stop thinking about the prospect of kissing Damen. 

“You did a really good job of playing dumb back there.” It sounds as if Damen is speaking into the air as opposed to Laurent’s hair, but Laurent decides to give it a few more moments. “Was the first loss part of your plan, too?”

“That part was real,” he admits, moving a loose strand of hair out of his face. “I’ve never played Smashing Brothers before.”

“It’s just Smash Bros,” Damen corrects with a chuckle. “You picked it up really quickly. We were all impressed.”

Laurent finally looks up to see Damen staring off into the night. They’re so close that Laurent can see the stubble on his cheek and chin, trailing all the way down to his neck. He wants to know what that stubble feels like against his own skin, his cheek, his neck, his forehead, everywhere. He’s testing himself by allowing both his eyes and his mind to wander.

“I enjoy games.”

“I can tell. I didn’t take you for a rom-com fan though. Are you secretly a hopeless romantic?”

If this was any other day, if any other person was asking, Laurent would say that he is not a hopeless romantic in the slightest. Right now he feels like the biggest hopeless romantic in the world. Just for him. Hopelessly romantic for him.

“I read the Notebook a few years ago and then watched the movie. I haven’t seen Love Actually yet.”

“I love the Notebook. Their chemistry was unparalleled,” Damen reminisces, a smile slowly taking over his face. “Although Julia Roberts is forever the queen of romantic comedies.”

Laurent has nothing to add to that. He hasn’t seen the Notebook in years, and he hasn’t watched any movies with Julia Roberts that he can remember. But Damen looks like he knows what he’s talking about. More than that, Damen looks passionate about it. There are few things more attractive than listening to someone talk about something they are passionate about.

When Damen is done talking, simply smiling off into the distance, Laurent sees it. He moves his hand up and presses his pointer finger into the dimple on his cheek. Damen turns his head to look at Laurent for an explanation, but Laurent ignores how close they are.

“You only have one dimple!” He exclaims, using his other hand to steady Damen’s face.

“What? No,” Damen says as he forces a frown. “I don’t have any.”

“You do. Smile.”

“No,” Damen argues, but he smiles anyway.

Just as Laurent had thought, the dimple only appears on his left cheek. It’s stupid. It’s so stupid, but Laurent is smiling back and rubbing his thumb over the dimple, feeling each prickly hair of Damen’s growing beard underneath his finger. Who in the world only has one dimple? 

Now that he’s no longer trying to force Damen to show him his unsymmetrical dimple, their position is more noticeable. Laurent’s hands on either side of Damen’s face, pulling his head down to his own level, Damen leaning over him with one hand on his shoulder. If Damen’s friends walked out of the liquor store right now, they would have a lot of explaining to do.

“Your hands are freezing,” Damen notes quietly.

Laurent jerks his hands away from Damen’s skin, but Damen snatches them both up with his own hands. There is no point in fighting it at this point, if his blush is visible in this light, Damen has surely already seen it. Damen wraps his arm back around his shoulders, but this time he takes hold of Laurent’s hands. He rubs them between his own to create some friction and thus heat. It doesn’t work that well, but Laurent appreciates the thought.

“I don’t have dimples,” Damen grumbles after a few seconds.

Laurent can’t help but laugh. “You’re right. You only have one.”

Damen shakes his head, his hair brushing against Laurent’s. The weight on top of Laurent’s head makes him think that Damen is resting his head against his. Damen is surely trying to kill Laurent. That’s the only explanation. 

“You have such a nice laugh,” Damen says once again into Laurent’s hair. He can feel the hot air of his breath on his ear. Laurent closes his eyes and concentrates on his breathing instead of Damen’s close proximity. “Will you go to therapy?” Laurent’s eyes open in a flash, staring at nothing. “I think it would help you, and Nicaise would really appreciate it.”

“I can’t,” Laurent whispers with hair hiding his face. “I can’t afford it.” He knows Damen is about to say something, but he cuts him off with, “even if I could, I wouldn’t go until Nicaise does.”

“Nicaise?” Damen repeats in confusion. He does not ask the question that Laurent knows he wants to ask. “Well, would you go if I convinced Nicaise to go, too?”

Laurent looks back up at him. Damen is still just as close. “I told you, I can’t afford it.”

Damen takes a minute to think. Laurent can practically see the cogs turning in his brain. On any other occasion, Laurent would make a snide remark about Damen not straining himself, but this feels like the wrong time. Especially since Damen is really just trying to help him. It’s admirable although baffling.

“What if I paid?” Laurent scrunches up his eyebrows. “I could take Nicaise to a therapist next time I take him driving.”

“What do you get out of this?”

“I told you,” Damen repeats Laurents phrasing. “I have plenty of love to give. Besides, maybe you can help me figure out how to stop my brother.”

The sound of muffled conversation and then the door opening gives Laurent something to think about other than Damen’s odd offer. Jord, Nikandros, and Pallas are walking out of the store with several brown bags in their hands. They only look mildly confused when they spot him and Damen. Nikandros is staring at Damen hard. His disapproval is palpable.

“We wondered where you two went,” Pallas says as Laurent breaks free of Damen’s grasp. The cold hits him like a truck without Damen. 

“Laurent, here, isn’t 21 yet,” Damen explains as they make their way back to the car. “I didn’t want him to get kidnapped.” Laurent rolls his eyes at that. “Poor baby was also cold,” Damen teases, going to wrap his arm around Laurent again. Laurent scoffs audibly and ducks out of the way.

Nikandros finally speaks up, asking, “why didn’t you guys just stay in the car?”

The realization makes both Laurent and Damen freeze. Neither of them had thought of that seemingly obvious solution. In Laurent’s defense, he hadn’t anticipated Damen staying outside with him. Although it would have been relatively simple to suggest going to the car after Damen asked if he was cold. The real reason it hadn’t crossed his mind was because his mind was too busy thinking about impossibilities. Perhaps they were both just a little stupid. 

Damen laughs, unlocking the car. “Fuck, I’m dumb.”

They drive back to Damen’s house in the same seating arrangement as before. Laurent spends the entire time playing with the sleeves of Damen’s sweater. He’ll give it back when they get back to his house. It’s a navy blue sweater that Laurent had originally thought was black. He likes the way it feels between his fingers as he folds up the cuffs just to unfold them again. 

If Laurent ever comes across a spare hundred dollars that he does not need to put in his personal bank account that his Uncle does not have access to, maybe he’ll invest in a cashmere sweater of his own. That day is probably years away. At least two years and then a few years after that if Nicaise decides to go to college. Which he will. Speaking of Nicaise, he hasn’t texted Laurent yet. That’s a good sign. Hopefully he’s making good decisions. He’s probably not, but he’ll see in a few hours.

The ride back seems even quicker than the ride there. Laurent is once again lost in thought when the car stops. He’s the last one out and would be the last one in the house if Damen hadn’t waited for him with a small smile on his face. He looks like he wants to continue their earlier conversation. Laurent refuses. He immediately asks Damen where the bathroom is. 

Once in the bathroom he stares at himself in the mirror. His body is swallowed by the sweater in a way that he doesn’t hate. The sleeves are so long that when he lets his arms hang down, his hands aren't even visible. The collar reveals a good portion of the top of Laurent’s shirt. The only other oversized clothing Laurent has worn are his brother’s. He wears Auguste’s shirts to sleep almost every night. They are not as oversized as they once were. Laurent has grown over the seven years that Auguste has been dead. Auguste’s clothes have not.

Laurent pulls the sweater off of himself as gently as he can, folds it, and sets it on the counter. Then he runs both of his hands through his hair and tells himself to calm down. This is not a date. There are three other men here. Damen has a girlfriend. Everything that Laurent is freaking out about is just in his mind. 

Back downstairs, the men are already pouring drinks and getting the movie queued up. Jord smiles and invites Laurent over. Seeing as he has no plans of hanging out on the stairs, Laurent obliges.

“Want a drink? I won’t call the cops,” Jord offers, still smiling.

There is a large assortment of shots, mixed drinks, and beers sitting on the coffee table in front of the television. Laurent doesn’t drink very often, and it’s nice to have a valid excuse this time. “No, thank you. I have to pick up my...brother later.” He subsequently walks up to Damen and holds out the sweater. “Thank you…”

“You should have kept it,” Pallas says after knocking back a shot. 

Jord seems to think this is an appropriate time to flirt as he adds, “yeah, it looked better on you.”

When Laurent looks back at Damen, he is smiling. “Yeah, it did.” Damen takes the sweater and pats the cushion beside him. “Make yourself comfortable. This movie’s almost two and a half hours, and you’re not going to want to miss a second.”

He slides his shoes off and sits with his shins underneath himself. It’s cold. Again. He should have waited until after the movie until he gave back the sweater. Damen’s not even wearing it, just holding it across his lap as he opens a beer with another beer. Ridiculous. But the movie starts and Laurent is confronted with far more characters than he can ever be expected to keep up with. He pushes his hair behind his ear and tries to pay attention.

He immediately understands why Damen likes this movie. All of the saccharine talk of love being all around is exactly Damen’s speed. The exceptionally British swearing and awkwardly blunt characters are definitely up to par with Laurent’s desires. He is a little let down at the lack of diversity though. This many story lines and not one of them involve a queer couple yet.

Laurent chooses the funeral scene as the moment he adjusts his positioning. He would rather think about wrapping his arms around his knees because of the cold than think about funerals. He was too young to remember his mother’s. His brother’s felt surreal, an out of body experience that he can barely recall for a different reason. His father’s, the most recent, is the only one he can really recollect. He mostly remembers feeling empty and ready for his tribulations to finally end. Of course things changed when he learned of Nicaise’s existence.

A sweater hits him in the face, effectively stopping him from spiraling down that rabbit hole of thought. Laurent glares at Damen, but he is still watching the television. Laurent begrudgingly puts the sweater on. When his vision is no longer blocked by the sweater, he can see that Damen has looked over at him with a smug grin on his face.

“Shut up,” Laurent whispers, sliding his arms through the proper holes.

“I didn’t say anything,” he replies, but the smile doesn’t leave.

“Bro, if you don’t shut the fuck up,” Pallas hisses from the other couch. He has switched from shots to a mixed drink. 

They both laugh and turn their attention back to the movie. Laurent does like the movie quite a bit. He finds some story lines more compelling than others, and the same goes for the characters. He likes the rockstar character, Billy. He feels his own cynicism is well represented through that character. Most of the romantic story lines are pretty mawkish, but that might just be his aforementioned cynicism.

Mr. Bean is wrapping a necklace when Laurent pushes his hair out of his face for what must be the fiftieth time tonight. It’s become a habit at this point, something he does without even thinking about it. He doesn’t even notice, but evidently Damen has. He grabs Laurent’s wrist the next time he goes to fix his hair. Laurent has to give him credit for his reflexes. Especially for his left hand.

“I got you,” Damen says before reaching behind him and grabbing a scrunchie from the back of the sofa. 

Laurent doesn’t ask why Damen has a stash of hair ties sitting on the top of his couch down here. It probably has something to do with the girlfriend, and he does not want to know. Nevertheless he takes the scrunchie and pulls his hair into a ponytail.

All of a sudden Damen is leaning in, stopping mere inches away from the side of Laurent’s face. “You’re welcome,” Damen whispers into Laurent’s ear, reaching up to Laurent’s ponytail and pulling softly.

Laurent whips his head around, presses two fingers against Damen’s forehead, and pushes. Damen laughs as he falls backwards, but his laughter is short lived. This time it’s Nikandros instead of Pallas that is yelling at him with a, “I thought you liked this movie!” Laurent feels no guilt over getting Damen in trouble with his friends. Damen started it. Laurent would be damned if he didn’t continue it, but he is not at fault. 

“I need a haircut,” Laurent notes as quietly as possible. He’s not at fault, but he does enjoy hearing Damen get scolded by his friends. 

“I think it looks nice. Longer hair suits you.” Laurent had not expected that answer.

“Damen, I swear to God, I will kick you out of your own fucking house,” Pallas threatens. Laurent starts laughing as quietly as he can, muffling the sound further with his hand. “We have less than an hour left, just  _ please _ .” Pallas makes a zipping motion over his mouth with his hand. It’s clear that he has had far more to drink than Damen who is now working on his third beer. Hopefully he’s planning on staying the night. 

Laurent begins to get invested in the storyline involving the cheating husband, so he stops trying to get Damen in trouble as he watches the necklace arc progress. There is a lot going on in this movie, and it’s difficult to keep up with everything. All of the storylines have officially intertwined at the Christmas concert when Nicaise finally texts.

**Nicaise** :  _ pick me up soon plsssss _

He tells Nicaise that he’ll pick him up once the movie has ended which shouldn’t be much longer. And it’s not. Ten minutes later and the movie has ended up back at the airport, tying up any loose ends. 

“Wait… Were the two pornstars related,” Jord asks as everyone is reuniting at the airport. “How did they know each other?”

“No!” Damen answers, sounding utterly disgusted. “That would be incest, you fucking perv. Disgusting. They just had mutual friends.”

Laurent practically rips the sweater off, tossing it onto Damen’s lap, and making his way to the exit. Everyone is staring at him as he walks, absolutely baffled. He has to say something to explain himself, but his mind is swirling.

“Thanks for having me,” he finally pushes out over his shoulder. By the time he forces his mouth to work, he’s already at the stairs. He ignores the calls that follow him, asking if he’s okay and where he’s going. He thinks he hears Jord explaining that he’s probably picking up his brother. That should keep them from following him. 

He can’t believe he was stupid enough to think that he could be friends with Damen and integrate into that friend group. It shouldn’t be surprising. He was stupid enough to let himself get that close to Damen when he knew that nothing could ever happen between them for a multitude of reasons. Now he’s given himself away by running away at the mere mention of incestuous relationships.

Despite Nicaise’ seeming desperation to leave, he takes his time coming out to the car. When he finally hops in the front seat, Laurent’s phone lights up with a text. Laurent ignores it and instead turns his attention to Nicaise.

“No hickeys. That’s a good sign.”

Nicaise rolls his eyes and retorts, “no hickeys. You’re still a fucking prude.” For some reason, it’s comforting to hear his sass. It allows Laurent to forget about what just happened. For a moment at least. “Damen wants to know if you’re okay. He says you left in a hurry.”

Laurent glances over to see that Nicaise is on his phone. “Just like the message. You can ask him to take you driving if you want.”

Nicaise is silent as he responds. Knowing Nicaise’s texting style, he probably said something like, ‘ _ it’s nicaise. will u take me driving nxt wk? _ ’ For some reason Nicaise has an aversion to capital letters. Laurent doesn’t understand, but there are a lot of things about Nicaise that he doesn’t understand.

“He’s gonna take me on Wednesday,” Nicaise says and sets Laurent’s phone on the console. “How was hanging out with Damen and his friends?”

“Fine.”

Damen has texted Laurent again by the time that they get back to their house. Laurent only needs to see a few words of the text to snatch up the phone before Nicaise can read it. Nicaise gives him a weird look, but quickly forgets about it as he bounds off inside and presumably to his room. 

**Damen** :  _ I wasn’t joking about therapy. I’ll pay for both of you to go. I can get Nicaise an appointment on Wednesday, but I won’t take him without your permission. Just let me know if that’s okay. _

Laurent leaves him on read and heads inside. With each step he takes on his way into the house, his mind has come up with ten various pros and cons. By the time he has reached his room, he thinks he has reached his verdict. He sits down at his desk, staring at the pen and paper before him. Hopefully Damen will not make him regret his choice.

  
**Laurent** :  _ Okay _ .

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm the CEO of dimple kinks, I don't even apologize.


	5. Chapter Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> obligatory shopping montage

Damen’s friends like Laurent more than they like Jokaste. Not that he was comparing the two because that’s not the case. It just became increasingly obvious throughout the night. It was indisputable by the time Laurent left in a rush. All of his friends were ready to chase after him to make sure he was okay. Even Nikandros sat up from his slump when Laurent passed by. Despite hardly speaking a word to him, Nikandros doesn’t hate Laurent. That was clear when Nik asked if Laurent had responded to his text yet.

In regards to his later text, Damen was ecstatic to see that Laurent had agreed. It wasn’t the most enthusiastic agreement, but it was an agreement nonetheless. So now Damen is back at the deVere house with an appointment in twenty minutes at the same therapist both he and his mother had gone to. 

“I’m ready. Let’s go!” Nicaise exclaims, brushing past Damen before he can even get a word in. What is it with the deVeres and not letting Damen properly greet them lately?

“Yeah, one sec. I need to talk to Laurent first,” Damen explains as he takes a step inside. “Is he in his room?”

“Uh oh…” Nicaise rolls his eyes and then sighs dramatically. “Yeah, he should be. At least make it a quickie, please.”

Damen looks back at Nicaise, baffled by his comment. Nothing on Nicaise’s face reveals anything useful, so he ignores it and heads off to Laurent’s room. Having only been there once, it’s hard to remember exactly where his room is. Fortunately, there is only one door with light shining underneath. If it’s not Laurent, it’s Mr. deVere. Either way, he’ll make it work.

The door opens after the first knock and Laurent stands before him with glasses resting on his nose. Damen wants to ask about the glasses, ask if they are prescription or blue light filters or reading glasses. He wants to ask how he is doing as well. But he also wants to ask what the paper in Laurent’s hand is. He has too many questions and far too little time. Twenty minutes until Nicaise’s appointment, and it takes around ten minutes to get there. Fifteen with Nicaise’s driving. He needs to talk to Laurent about only the important things.

“I’m glad you came to see me before you left,” Laurent says, his tone cold despite the welcoming words, and then hands Damen the paper in his hand. It’s an envelope with Nicaise’s name written on the front in cursive. “Here.”

“What’s this?”

“Give it to Nicaise when he tries to argue with you tonight.”

Damen takes the envelope and asks, “how do you know he’ll argue about it?”

Laurent does not reply, merely fixes Damen with a glare that informs him of how well he knows Nicaise. The look makes Damen feel idiotic, and the fact that Laurent’s voice has been so cold this entire time is not helping. It’s such a drastic switch from this past weekend. Something must have happened in that time. That’s the only explanation.

“Oh! Before I go,” Damen begins, fiddling with the envelope awkwardly. Somehow the glasses make Laurent’s expression even more stern. “I wanted to know if you would come Christmas shopping with me. Not in the city or anything. Just at the mall here.”

His austere appearance softens slightly. “I-” he cuts himself off, biting his bottom lip and averting his eyes. “Sure…”

“Awesome! I’ll text you.”

Laurent nods and closes the door as Damen leaves. Nicaise is waiting for him in the kitchen, mindlessly scrolling through his phone. As soon as he notices Damen, he pockets his phone and heads for the door, leaving Damen no choice but to follow him. With the time constraint, it’s good that Nicaise is ready to get a move on. Damen likes how excited Nicaise is to practice driving. 

“Alright,” Damen says as they get into the car. He pulls up the address on his navigation app, the actual address instead of the name of the business. “I’m gonna have you drive here tonight.”

“What is it?” Nicaise asks, but he’s already following the directions that Damen’s phone is giving him. 

“You’ll see when we get there.”

Nicaise catches on to where they are headed as soon as they pull into the parking lot. There are a few other businesses that share the parking lot, but Nicaise is smart enough to know they’re not going shopping. He pulls into a parking spot and turns to Damen without taking his seatbelt off. It’s the best parking job that Nicaise has done so far. Damen would tell him that if not for the fact that Nicaise looks absolutely irate.

“A psychologist’s office? You’re joking.”

“Laurent and I got you an appointment.” He’s not entirely sure if Laurent wants to be included in this, but Damen doesn’t want to take all the credit... Or the blame depending on how this conversation goes.

“Laurent is in on this? Why? He’s just as fucked up as I am if not more,” Nicaise seethes. “Is this payback for making him hang out with you? Or is this about Mr. A?”

Damen tries not to feel hurt at the fact that Nicaise apparently had to force Laurent to hang out with him. It makes sense, but it hurts. He also tries not to wonder what the case surrounding Mr. A is. Nicaise has three minutes until his appointment and Damen cannot afford to waste that time asking questions about things that don’t concern him. Instead he hands Nicaise the envelope. This effectively shuts him up, and he opens it.

There is a letter inside. Handwritten in the same beautiful cursive that Nicaise’s name is scribed on the front. It’s not an especially long letter, but it is long enough to completely fill the paper. Nicaise reads each line with a slight furrow in his brows and then when he is done, he folds the letter back up. 

“Are you going to wait here for me?” Nicaise asks, his voice timid. His entire demeanor has changed since reading the letter.

“I’ll pick up a milkshake and fries for you to have afterwards,” Damen grins. He’s aiming for comfort, but he’s not sure if he achieves it.

All the same, Nicaise nods and hands off the keys. He takes the letter with him as he walks up to the building, shoving it into his back pocket with his phone. Damen gets out of the car and waves when Nicaise glances back. He doesn’t smile in response. Only nods once more and walks through the doors. 

Damen is not worried. He’s familiar with this therapist, and he warned him that Nicaise was a flight risk of sorts. He has total and utter faith in Dr. Paschal’s abilities. If he could calm Damen down from his teenage fits of rage, he can deal with Nicaise’s bristley persona.

^^^^^

When Laurent agreed to go Christmas shopping with Damen, he thought it would be a good opportunity to actually do something special for Nicaise during the holidays. He barely even realized that Halloween and Thanksgiving were coming up by the time they had passed. Nicaise’s birthday is New Year’s Day, so this would be the perfect chance to buy him a gift without the teen knowing. 

When Laurent agreed to go Christmas shopping, he thought it would just be Damen, and he would get the chance to gage Damen’s feelings towards him after the Love Actually incident. They haven’t spoken since Damen first invited him earlier this week, and that was hardly a conversation by any means. The fact that Damen even invited him was a good sign, but not altogether revealing.

What Laurent did not agree to was an opportunity to watch the man he is taken with hang out with his girlfriend. So when he sees Damen walking towards him, hand in hand with the girlfriend, Laurent is perturbed. Not only is she holding Damen’s hand like she has won a prize, but she is also wearing a navy blue cashmere sweater. It feels like an insult to Laurent, a slap on the face to his feelings. At least today will serve as a wake up call. A splash of ice cold water that tells him that he stands no chance.

Laurent vaguely remembers the woman from the last company event. Her hair is just as beautiful, falling down her shoulders in large waves. Laurent’s hand reflexively goes up to touch his hair, short, straight, and dull in comparison. Her eyes are bright blue, the same colour as the clear sky behind her. Laurent’s own eyes have never felt more like ice. He has never felt so inferior.

“You must be Laurent,” the woman greets, holding out her free hand for him to shake. Damen is still holding her other hand, grinning like an idiot. Laurent hates how attractive he looks. “Damen has told me quite a bit about you. I’m Jokaste.” Laurent can hear the insinuations of exactly what Damen has told her in that statement.

“Jokaste, it’s a pleasure. I’m afraid Damen hasn’t mentioned you,” Laurent replies easily, taking her hand but not actually shaking it. 

Damen’s smile drops immediately. “Laurent,” he chides and then tries to play it off with forced laughter. “He’s got the driest humour, babe. You’ll catch on soon.” As he says this, he drops her hand and wraps his arm around her shoulders. Laurent suddenly feels as if his, or Auguste’s really, hoodie is no longer sufficient to keep out the cold.

“Well I’m glad you decided to come shopping with us. It’ll be nice to get to know Damen’s newest little friend.” From the observant glance she gives him, it’s obvious that when she says ‘get to know’, she really means ‘critique’. 

“‘Little friend’.” Laurent repeats.

Her presence is bothersome to say the least, but he follows her and Damen into the mall against his better judgement. She is quick to find a store she wants to go into. Some women’s clothing store with clothes that Laurent can’t even afford to glance at. Both he and Damen hang back as she floats through the store, picking up various articles of clothing to try on and most likely purchase. 

“What was that,” Damen asks in a hushed but clearly agitated tone.

Laurent doesn’t bother playing dumb, simply crosses his arms and stares him right in his heart melting brown eyes. Dissimulate. “I never asked you to bring your girlfriend.”

“She’s important to me, Laurent. And so are you.” Laurent purses his lips at that. “I want you two to get along. Promise me you’ll at least try?”

“I’ll make no such promises.”

Damen’s intense pretense cracks as he chuckles. He lifts one hand up to Laurent’s cheek, cupping his face. Laurent immediately checks to make sure Jokaste is not within viewing distance. She has busied herself talking to the dressing room attendant, so Laurent looks back up at Damen. Damen’s not leaning over as much as last time. He would need to pull Damen down  _ and _ get up on his toes in order to close the distance, but they still feel excruciatingly close. He’s shaved since last time they were this close. They shouldn’t be this close.

“Why are you so difficult?” Damen questions. It’s obviously a rhetorical question, but Laurent usually likes to respond to such queries with a witty retort. There is no chance of him doing that now. He’s enraptured by Damen’s smile and the way his hand, oh so large and a bit calloused, feels against his cheek. “Come on. Let’s do something fun while we wait for her.”

‘Something fun’ by Damen’s definition is stopping at the first photobooth they see. It might just be the first thing that isn’t a store that Damen laid his eyes on. Laurent probably would have picked a coffee shop to get something to drink or the bookstore to browse, but Damen has other priorities. Laurent isn’t sure what those priorities are, but they are certainly different than his own.

Damen hops in the booth, pulling Laurent in with him before Laurent can even object. It’s cramped. Their thighs are pressed flush against each other while Damen pays to use the machine. He gives Laurent some space back once his cash has been accepted. The screen lights up, asking them what theme they want for the photos. There is a holiday option. A very valid holiday option with snowflakes, pine trees, and Christmas lights. Damen skips over it. Instead he selects one that says ‘you’re the cheese to my macaroni’.

“Cheesy, right?” He is smiling so widely that Laurent thinks he can see the faint ghost of a second dimple. Laurent oscillates between slapping him and kissing him, finally deciding on neither. 

“Really?”

“Don’t pretend like you don’t want to laugh.”

“I don’t have to pretend.”

The camera turning on ends the conversation and makes it clear that they will need to get closer if they both want to fit in the frame. Laurent bites the bullet and scoots towards him. It’s ridiculous how much body heat Damen produces. Damen smiles as the countdown begins; Laurent does not. There is something off-putting about staring at the husk of himself while Damen looks so genuinely joyful. The first photo is taken.

When the next countdown begins, Damen wraps his arm around Laurent and pulls him even closer. Laurent hadn’t even realized it was possible for them to get any closer without sitting on top of each other; Damen proves him wrong. He presses his cheek against Laurent’s and keeps the same goofy grin on his face. This time Laurent has to fight not to smile with him. The second photo is taken.

For the next countdown, Laurent can see in the camera display that Damen is frowning jokingly and glaring at him despite surely not being able to see him that well. Laurent also looks over at him, but does not pout similarly. He’s not trying to mimic Damen for the photo. He’s just… confused. The third photo is taken.

“Come on,” Damen prods and points to the screen. “Say ‘cheese’!”

Laurent only smiles because of how stupid it is. The once dopey grin on Damen’s face becomes more sincere as Laurent’s face betrays him. He can’t force the smile off of his face before the fourth and final photo is taken. The bottom photo on the strip will be proof of Laurent’s failings to control his facial muscles. 

Damen hops out of the booth and to the side where the strip of photos should be printing. Laurent wipes the smile off of his face before he joins him. 

“I thought it was supposed to print out two…” Damen checks the slot to make sure he didn’t miss one. “I would have bought another one if I knew.”

“You keep it.”

He looks offended that Laurent would even suggest that. Laurent had thought it was a fairly generous solution, so he’s not sure what the issue here is. But Damen is huffing, shaking his head, and then leaning back over to check the slot again. Still nothing.

“Jokaste probably needs me back by now,” Damen sighs, pushing his curls up with one hand. “Let’s stop by on our way through. Hopefully no one else will use it before then.”

Laurent pulls the photos out of Damen’s grasp. The simpler solution would just be to cut the photo strip in half. Since there are only four photos, it would be even right down the middle, two for Damen and two for him. Even the ridiculous, quite literally cheesy message would be split in half. It’s simple problem solving really. He has dealt with far more difficult obstacles in his life.

He pulls the pocket knife on his keychain out and holds the photo strip against the side of the photo booth. With one solid swipe, he cuts the strip in half. He can hear Damen make a noise of surprise. He closes the knife and pops his keys back into his pocket. Damen looks pleasantly impressed when he looks back up.

“No need. Which half do you want?”

“The half where you’re smiling obviously.” Laurent’s heart lurches, but he manages to hand him the bottom half. “Now let’s get back before Jokaste starts blowing up my phone.”

Laurent studies his half of the photo strip as they walk back through the mall. The first photo really demonstrates the contrasting façades that they both put on. Laurent looks cold and unfeeling; whereas, Damen looks incessantly happy and optimistic. The second photo reveals more of their true selves, with Laurent still wearing the straight face but with visible cracks in his composure. Damen still looks unfathomably happy but like he’s doing it at least partially for Laurent’s sake. Laurent can hardly believe that Damen is still working so hard to bring him happiness.

It would almost be easier if Damen would just give up and leave him alone. He’s irrevocably grateful for the help that Damen has given him, but he’s not sure how long he can keep his infatuation at bay. 

“I never got the chance to ask you what you thought about Love Actually.”

“It was better than I expected,” Laurent answers honestly. “I liked the storyline with the cheating husband.”

Damen is so surprised that he stops walking. “What? That’s the saddest part of the entire movie.”

“Yes, but it’s realistic. Sometimes we fall in love with people we shouldn’t.” Even with his face apathetic, he feels far too exposed when he leaves it at that. “Besides, Joni Mitchell’s music makes everything better.”

“Can’t argue with that logic,” Damen concedes and continues walking. “You’re coming to the Christmas party this Saturday, right?”

Laurent vaguely remembers seeing an email about being invited to the holiday celebration that Akielon Industries was hosting. He hadn’t RSVP’d because part of him thought it was a mistake that he had even been invited. The only events he ever gets invited to are the ones that his own company throws, and even then he is only invited because Vannes had a soft spot for Auguste that transferred over to him. She is the only person with any real sway that would support him if Laurent had to go up against his Uncle for the company.

“The one your company is throwing?”

“Well, I wouldn’t say it’s  _ my _ company. Not yet at least. I’m only the president for now,” Damen reminds him humbly. “But, yeah, I made sure you got an invite.”

Oh. “I might be able to make it.”

They get back to the store before Jokaste has finished trying on clothes. Laurent doesn’t understand the length of that process, but he uses the rare moment without Damen’s attention to pull his phone out. He takes the clear case off of it and carefully places his half of the photo strip so that the two pictures will be visible when he puts the case back on. The words ‘you’re the cheese...’ are also visible, but Laurent can’t win them all.

He looks over the photos one more time. Damen’s smile in the first one is charming, but his second smile is absolutely endearing, the way his cheek is squished against Laurent’s. Dissimulate, Laurent reminds himself. He glances up at Damen at the same time that Damen looks down at him. Damen smiles, not goofily, not like he thinks it’s what Laurent needs to see, but because he is happy. Laurent can only blink in response. He opens his mouth to ask what he is smiling about, but Jokaste chooses this moment to make her appearance at last.

Damen’s eyes move away from Laurent and to Jokaste who is spinning around in a long flowy blue dress. His smile lessens slightly in awe, and his eyes fill with love. Laurent knows that he will never have that effect on him. He will never have that effect on anyone.

“You look amazing,” Damen says, taking a step towards her.

Laurent knows exactly what is coming next. It’s what he’s been visualizing for the past week, but Jokaste is the recipient, not him. He was a fool to even imagine it. Damen would never kiss him. That’s never something he will be able to experience in spite of his grandest dreams. 

He looks back at the photo in his phone case with a silent sigh. It’s hard to make what feels like everything become nothing.

^^^^^

Laurent is acting differently. It took Damen a little while to notice since Laurent’s typical demeanour is aloof and disinterested, but his attitude today is not quite that. 

If opposites attract, then similarities repel because Laurent and Jokaste are practically at each other’s throats. There is certainly a part of Damen that is intrigued by the passive aggressive comments they are throwing at each other, but the more mature part of him just wants them to get along.

“You’re planning on buying something for yourself, right?” Jokaste asks as they leave yet another store with Laurent empty handed. “You shouldn’t ruin what you have going for you by wearing such… unflattering clothing.”

Damen nearly drops all of the bags he is holding to rush to Laurent’s defence. He can’t think of a response that doesn’t come off as condescending towards Laurent and contemptuous towards Jokaste. He should realize that Laurent is a quick-witted young man who is more than capable of defending himself.

“I actually have a personality and an attractive face, so I don’t need to rely so heavily on my clothing.” The smile on his face is terrifying. Damen can feel his blood run cold. “But thanks for your concern!”

Jokaste glares at him in response and pulls them into another store. Damen’s phone goes off as they’re walking through the threshold. As Jokaste has already gone off in search of something to try on, Laurent takes some of the bags that Damen is carrying. He could have shifted them all to one arm, but Laurent so rarely offers help. With a newly free hand, Damen can pull his phone from his back pocket to see who tried to reach him. 

“Jord just texted me and asked if I would give him your number… That’s weird. I should tell him ‘no’, right?” He’s not trying to convince Laurent not to talk to Jord, but he can’t imagine that Laurent would be interested.

“Why’s that?” Laurent asks, always aiming to baffle Damen. 

“Because you don’t want to date Jord. I mean, Jord is-”

“Jord’s nice.”

They’re at an impasse. Damen is not particularly fond of the idea of Laurent and Jord dating for some reason. Probably because he remembers how dependent on his girlfriend he became when his mother was sick. It’s not a position he would wish on anyone.

“You want his number?” 

Laurent shrugs. His cavalerity about the situation is concerning to Damen. Not only does he want to protect Laurent, but he wants the best for Jord, too. Jord is the type to give his all to his boyfriends, and Laurent is… well, he’s a bit apathetic to say the least. Damen swears he saw more emotion on his face when they were all playing video games.

“You’re surprised.” It’s not even a question. Just an offhand comment as Laurent sets the bags on the ground and stretches his hand.

“No,” Damen disagrees, sliding his phone back into his pocket and picking up the bags that Laurent set down. “It’s just that Jord’s, like, the type of person to take his dates to Starbucks.” He’s not exactly sure where that remark comes from.

“You tried to take Nicaise to Chick-fil-a,” Laurent scoffs. 

Damen feels oddly offended. “That’s different.”

Laurent looks over as him with an appraising look in his eyes. Damen’s mobility is limited with the numerous bags he is holding, but he manages to indicate his confusion. All Laurent says in response to that is, “you sound like you’re jealous.”

“You sound like you’re trying to find someone else to hang out with.” Maybe he is a little jealous. Laurent was his friend first, and now Jord is trying to steal him away. God, he feels like he’s in elementary school again. How embarrassing. 

“Ah, yes,” Laurent snaps back, narrowing his brows. “Because nothing could be better than shopping with you and your girlfriend. Third wheeling is my favourite activity.”

His tone of voice is just as caustic as it had been when Jokaste insulted his clothing. It seems much more intense now that it is directed at him. Damen feels thoroughly knocked down to size. He’s right. It was rude of him to invite Jokaste without giving him a heads up. Although in reality Jokaste invited herself at the last minute, and Damen wasn’t sure how to let him know in a way that wouldn’t make him back out. Damen doesn’t get the chance to apologize.

“Your credit card is needed,” Laurent informs him with the same vitriolic inflection. 

Sure enough, Jokaste is waving him over with her arm full of clothing. Somehow Christmas shopping has turned into Jokaste shopping for herself. It saves Damen a lot of worrying about what he should buy her, so he doesn’t mind all that much.

Despite Laurent refusing to buy anything for himself, Jokaste does not stop pressuring him into trying things on. He finally acquiesces at the last store they visit on the condition that they choose the outfits each other try. A game. He shouldn’t be surprised. 

Damen’s arms have rings around them from carrying so many bags, but he still anxiously awaits them both to come out of the dressing room. They had run off in such a hurry that Damen didn’t even get a glimpse of what they would be trying on. That makes it even more exciting to try to guess what each of them picked out for the other. Damen knows better than to assume the best from this situation. There was nothing in either of their voices that suggested that they were suddenly on good terms.

Jokaste walks out of her dressing room first, wearing baggy jeans and a crop top. It’s a far cry from her typical skinny jeans or skirt and blouse combination, but Damen is not at all opposed. Laurent, for all of his clothing that seems just one size too large for him, actually has a decent sense of style. 

Laurent comes out wearing black skinny jeans and a frilly white shirt. The style is not all that different from what Damen has seen him in before. The shirt is more flamboyant and baroque than anything Laurent typically wears, but he still manages to pull it off. There is also something slightly intoxicating about the way the jeans hug his thighs. Damen isn’t staring perse, but his eyes feel glued to the muscles that lay beneath, usually hidden by looser pants.

“You look better!” Jokaste exclaims when she sees him. Damen does not agree. Laurent looks good, but not intrinsically better.

“And you look,” Laurent gives her a once over, twisting his lips as if he’s considering it. “Well, it looked good on the mannequin.”

“I think you both look wonderful,” Damen says, hoping to cut this interaction as short as possible. The indignant look Laurent shoots him shuts him back up. That’s the last time he compliments Laurent... It’s not true. Damen is very free with his compliments.

“I know I do,” Jokaste responds happily. She walks up to him and wraps her arms around his neck. Damen’s hands mindlessly find their way to her waist. “Now let’s get home. I bought some things that I know you’ll be excited about.”

Her voice is not nearly quiet enough for Damen’s liking. He’s almost positive that Laurent can hear every word, and he is proven correct when Laurent purses his lips and heads back into the changing room. Damen can feel his face heating up at the thought of Laurent having any idea of what is going to take place in his bedroom. Typically Jokaste is much more subtle with her teasing, so he has no idea what came over her just now.

Now he just wants to go to sleep when he goes back home. How unsexy.

Jokaste leaves him in order to change out of the outfit Laurent had chosen. Damen takes the moment alone to pull his phone out. It’s a difficult task due to the fact that he has more than ten different bags hanging off of his arms, but he manages. He still hasn’t texted Jord back with Laurent’s number and still isn’t sure if he should.

Laurent’s earlier words ring through his mind. ‘Sometimes we fall in love with people we shouldn’t.’ That couldn’t possibly be in reference to Jord though. Jord laid it on Laurent thick. There’s no way that Laurent was unaware that Jord was into him, yet he didn’t seem to reciprocate those feelings. Unless that was because he felt like he shouldn’t reciprocate for some reason. Laurent is a mystery. An absolutely mind-boggling mystery. Damen was ignorant to think that he could uncover such a mystery in the span of merely a few days.

He sends Laurent’s contact to Jord. 

Maybe Laurent will bring Jord to the Christmas party. Now he feels as if he’s under a time crunch to get Laurent to therapy before he and Jord can go out on any dates. With the fight Nicaise put up, Damen has a feeling that the task will be easier said than done. The silver lining is that after his appointment, Nicaise, while disoriented and scarily quiet, did not say anything negative about the appointment or Dr. Paschal. He seemed to be deep in calm introspection. Hopefully Laurent will be the same.

“Do you hate me for bringing Jokaste along?” Damen asks quietly as soon as Laurent has exited the fitting room. Jokaste is still in hers.

“No,” he answers unconvincingly. He seems to recognize how unpersuasive the word was and follows it up with, “but I would have appreciated a warning.”

Laurent looks tired. He always looks tired, but this particular expression is mixed with something that Damen has never seen on his face before. It makes him look more numb than Damen has ever seen him. 

Jokaste walks out seconds later and joins them. She informs Damen that she’s ready to head back home, so the three of them leave the store. Jokaste complains about being cold as they search for the mall exit that will leave them closest to their car. Damen, who must be the best boyfriend in the world, shuffles all the bags onto one arm and wraps the now free arm around her shoulders. When they’ve reached the mall exit, he gives a quick glance behind him to make sure Laurent is still following. He is, although he looks like he would rather be anywhere else. 

A second, less brief look at Laurent informs Damen that the man’s eyes are watery. Damen unravels his arm from Jokaste and turns around to check on him.

“Are you okay?”

“I had something in my eye.” 

Damen takes a closer look. Both of Laurent’s eyes are glassy. “In both of them?”

“Yes,” Laurent answers sternly without missing a beat. Damen isn’t buying it. There is no red irritated skin around his eyes to indicate that he had been rubbing them. Damen knows that he can be oblivious at times, but he’s not stupid. “You’ve spent a lot of money today,” Laurent changes the subject before Damen can press any further.

“And you haven’t,” he retorts. 

“Yet we both ended up with the same amount.”

At first, Damen thinks it’s a joke. His arm is full of bags that prove otherwise. But none of the clothes inside the bag are his. Laurent is right. While Damen did spend a couple hundred dollars today, he did not end up with anything new. In any other scenario Damen would not have noticed nor cared about anything like that. Damen would explain it away by claiming that he has no problem spending his money on those he loves. That’s the truth. He has enough money, both inherited and earned.

The issue is that Laurent has only been around him and Jokaste for a day and he was already able to pick up on the disparity between what he and Jokaste walk out of stores with. Damen has been having doubts about this relationship for a good few weeks now, and Laurent is only confirming those doubts. The similarities between Laurent and Jokaste are undeniable, but they are in no way identical. It is their differences that actually make Damen wonder if he and Jokaste are as compatible as he once thought.

“I didn’t need anything.” Aside from the position as CEO of Akielon Industries, Damen already has what he needs. He definitely feels like he has everything he needs at the moment; although, he’s not sure if he’ll feel the same way when he gets home tonight.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can you tell I listened to Heather by Conan Gray and Harry Styles' cover of Girl Crush essentially on repeat while writing this? Perfect songs to get you into your feels.
> 
> (I've been pronouncing her name as "yo-kast" for years now and I am... so embarrassed)


	6. Chapter Six

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning: same stuff that's in the trilogy but to a lesser extent. You know I had to do my take on one of my favourite scenes from the trilogy.
> 
> Hope nobody got too used to the cute stuff because this chapter is a rollercoaster. The referenced songs are To Be Alone by Hozier and Normal Girl by SZA. These. Songs. Hit. Different (no pun intended). Just try to tell me Laurent wouldn't listen to Hozier. You can't.

It’s probably rude for him to have shown up to his own company’s party late, but he and Jokaste were having an argument. No, it was a fight. There’s no sugar coating it. A fight that really mattered caused by something that didn’t really matter. They’ve been happening with greater and greater frequency lately.

Laurent’s uncle finds him before Laurent does. In fact, Laurent must not even be here yet. Disappointing. Their conversation is amicably awkward as always. Damen spends the entire time looking over Mr. deVere’s shoulder to see if Laurent has arrived yet. Even when a boy comes up beside Mr. deVere and introduces himself, Damen pays no heed. His name is not Laurent and thus it goes in one ear and out the other. He looks through the crowds of people and past the couples dancing to the music playing softly in the background. Damen really should have asked his secretary if Laurent ever RSVP'd before he left work yesterday. 

He hasn’t seen Laurent since they went shopping this weekend. He hasn’t even heard from him since then. Even when he took Nicaise driving and then to his second appointment, Laurent did not make an appearance. Damen is worried that he spiralled into another depressive episode despite Nicaise claiming that he seemed okay. Damen would rather see for himself.

He’s contemplating texting Laurent to ask if he’s coming when he sees a flash of pale gold outside. He quickly excuses himself from the conversation and goes to meet Laurent on the patio. When Damen sees that Laurent has arrived alone, he’s relieved. Tonight, with Laurent’s blessing, Damen is going to make him an appointment with Dr. Paschal.

“Laurent, hi! You made it.”

Laurent turns to face him. It’s obvious to anyone that he has just come in from the cold outside. His hands are still shoved into the pockets of his oversized coat, his cheeks and nose are still rosy, his hair is still disheveled from the hood of his coat. Damen takes his jacket and hangs it up once Laurent has unzipped it.

“What do you want?”

The question takes him aback. What he wants is to talk to Laurent and get him to therapy and to be considered Laurent’s friend. He had at least thought they were close to being friends when Laurent agreed to go shopping with him. True, neither of them came out with anything, but they had a good time. Well, Damen had a good time, and he thought Laurent had at least enjoyed parts of the day. 

He glances back at the party, this time taking note of the people dancing. In the past, he and Jokaste would be one of those couples dancing. They haven’t danced together since last year. Damen doesn’t miss it perse, never really felt confident dancing around others, but he misses the little things they used to do that they never seem to make time for anymore. Everything is always about work now. Jokaste puts more pressure on him than he puts on himself. With his work ethic, that should be impossible.

“I was just going to ask if you wanted to dance.” Phrasing it that way feels like he’s putting less pressure on Laurent to say yes. It’s evident enough that Laurent does not enjoy these gatherings. The fact that he is here at all is a wonder. Getting him onto the dance floor would be nothing short of a miracle.

“This isn’t Love Actually,” Laurent replies with a coy smile. “I’m not your mistress.”

Damen smiles at that reference. “Of course not! You’re the wife.”

Laurent’s smile drops slowly. His cheeks which had been slowly returning to their normal pallor seem to fill with color again. He doesn’t acknowledge it. “I don’t dance, but I’ll take a drink.” Then the bantering smile comes back. “As long as you don’t cheat on me on your way there.”

“Oh, please,” Damen says through laughter. “I hope you don’t think  _ that _ low of me.”

Laurent doesn’t say anything in response, but the small smile on his face does not disappear immediately as they tend to. Damen almost does not want to leave because he knows how rare it is to see Laurent’s smile, but he does want to honor Laurent’s request for a drink. He turns around despite his heart’s bizarre protests.

Whether Laurent wanted water or an actual drink was unclear. He decides to play it safe and grab both a glass of water and a flute of champagne. Whichever one Laurent does not drink, he will. He’s halfway back to the patio when he is stopped by a woman blocking his path. He recognizes her as someone on the board of the deVere’s business. It’s unsurprising that she would be here. Damen’s father tends to invite board members of various companies that they do business with. What is surprising is that she would choose to come up to him instead of his father.

“Damianos, I don’t think we’ve been formally introduced,” she greets him politely. “My name is Vannes. I’m on the board of directors at Cuire by deVere.”

“Pleased to officially meet you. I would shake your hand if not for…” he holds up the two glasses in his hands. 

“Of course, of course. I don’t want to keep you for long anyway.” Damen nods. Something in her voice sounds serious, as though she has information to tell him. “I’ve been recently nominated as a board member for Akielon Industries as well as Cuire, so I wanted to introduce myself to everyone I’ll potentially be working with.”

“Congratulations on the nomination! I’m sure I’ll be seeing you at board meetings soon.”

“Thank you. I look forward to learning more about your company and administration.”

Damen smiles cautiously and ducks his head as a farewell. There were so many insinuations in her tone that Damen doesn’t know where to begin or what questions to even ask. For now he’ll concentrate on walking back to the patio without spilling anything. Once he has passed through the crowd, smiling at his many acquaintances, he can see into the patio. Laurent, arms crossed, is facing a boy: the same boy Mr. deVere had introduced him to earlier. Damen still does not remember the boy’s name.

He walks up to them and offers the two drinks to Laurent who eyes them warily before selecting the glass of water. Neither of them say anything now that Damen is present, but it’s obvious that they both have thousands of insults on the tips of their tongues. The tension in the air can only be cut by a butcher’s knife. The malice in their eyes is palpable, and Damen has absolutely no context to go off. They could be former lovers for all Damen knows. The only fact he actually knows is that there were multiple people on the patio when he left, but now all of them have gone. Probably for good reason.

“What’s going on here?”

“I’m just trying to figure out what  _ he’s _ doing here,” the boy practically hisses. It’s strange to witness such toxicity spill from such a pretty mouth. Although he should be used to it from spending time with Laurent.

“I invited him myself as a representative of Cuire.”

The boy raises his eyebrows pompously at Damen and informs him that, “his position at Cuire was terminated when he dropped out of college.”

Damen swings his gaze over to Laurent. The way Laurent averts his eyes is confirmation enough that this is a true statement. He wonders why Laurent never mentioned it. Damen never asked, but it’s a fairly important part of his life. Yet that’s Laurent. He won’t reveal anything that makes him seem weak, especially if he is not asked about it. 

The humiliation on Laurent’s face quickly shifts to cold, numb indignation. “The only position you, Aimeric, have ever had is underneath my uncle.”

The boy, Aimeric evidently, goes red. He presses his lips together as if he’s trying to think up something to say in response. Damen feels bad for the kid. He has had first hand experience with Laurent’s denigration and knows that there is no one who can rival Laurent like this. Even Jokaste could never get the last word in their pissing match this past weekend, and Jokaste is usually the Queen of pettiness.

The difference is that then Laurent had only been superficially irritated. This anger looks like it is coming from much deeper inside Laurent’s soul. This anger does not look like it sprouted from irritation or frustration. It looks like it is a deeply rooted resentment. Damen wonders what could have happened to cause the always apathetic Laurent to feel his lividity that profoundly.

“Whoa, whoa!” Damen tries to interject. “Lay off of him.”

“You’re just jealous because he doesn’t want you anymore!” Aimeric has finally found his voice. Damen has lost his. “Now you’re worthless. To him and the company.”

Aimeric hardly gets the last word out before he is knocked to the ground. Damen’s eyes jolt to Laurent who is only shaking his hand out nonchalantly. With the hand he did not use to strike the boy, Laurent takes a sip of his water. His expression is straight, but his eyes are darker than Damen has ever seen them before. Laurent is significantly shorter than him with far less muscle mass, but right now Damen can understand why someone would be scared of him. He’s clearly stronger than he looks; although, he doesn’t really need any of that to knock someone down a peg.

The shock of it all prevents Damen from immediately asking Aimeric if he is okay. The side of the boy’s face is red, and his eyes are teary from the pain. His brown hair is splayed across his forehead even as he looks back up at Laurent obstinately. Damen isn’t sure if the kid’s unwillingness to back down is due to stubbornness or stupidity, but Laurent has not finished with him.

“Unlike you, I don’t crave the approval of every authority figure that comes my way.” Each word is coated with poison. Laurent leans down slightly. “I might be worthless, but at least I haven’t deluded myself into thinking that a middle aged man actually loves me.” Then his voice drops. “Can he even get it up for you anymore? Even you surely know that you’re much too old for him now.”

Pure adrenaline pushes Damen’s voice out of his throat. “Laurent, stop!” Laurent fixes his cold gaze to Damen instead. “Please…”

Laurent stands up straight but does not allow the contempt to leave his countenance. Damen understands why someone would and should be afraid of Laurent, but he is not. He wipes the horror from his face, maintains eye contact, and stares down at Laurent resolutely. 

Aimeric clambors up during this. He scowls at Laurent but as soon as Laurent returns his glare, the boy cowers, presumably heading to the bathroom to fix his face. Or to Mr. deVere. Damen feels sick. He hadn’t really had the chance to process the words coming from their mouths. The tone and volume felt like the most pressing issues. It would be horrendous for them to have caused a major scene in front of so many important people.

Laurent returns his attention to Damen. His eyes have reverted to their typical exhausted state. The animosity has faded but not entirely dissipated. He still looks callous. Damen allows the tension to leave his body. He’s ready to have the difficult conversation about everything that has just come to light. Well, he’s not really ready, but he will be if he must.

“What are you still doing here, Damianos?” Laurent asks, his voice still fiery. “My uncle has been taking meetings with your brother, so he’s  _ fucking you, too _ . Deal with that.”

All Damen can do is watch as Laurent shoves his water into his hand, snatches his coat from the rack, and races out the door. He watches as Laurent stomps off to his car, not even bothering to put his jacket on. 

Fuck.

The full weight of Laurent’s words dawn on him now that he is standing alone. Fuck. How had he not realized that he was being double-crossed? Fuck. Why hadn’t Laurent told him until now? Fuck. Why does Kastor always have to want everything that Damen does? Fuck. How could he have been so stupid?

Mr. deVere is in the main room speaking to Damen’s father, Vannes, and a few other Akielon Industries board members. Aimeric is nowhere to be found. 

Damen considers calling Jokaste to vent. She would know what he should do. But he cannot. They haven’t spoken since he stormed out after their fight. He shouldn’t have stomped out like that. It was childish, but he was just so frustrated. She never listens to him. If she does, she never understands. He couldn’t deal with that a few hours ago. He’s not sure he can deal with it now either. 

He downs the entire glass of champagne, wishing it was something stronger so that he could forget about the world for a little while. Unfortunately that’s not a possibility. He sets both glasses down on the nearest table.

He can’t forget about everything that was said between Aimeric and Laurent. He can’t forget about  _ anything _ that was said. He feels overwhelmed by the mass of new information he has learned in such a short amount of time. New information about his own company, Mr. deVere, and Laurent. So much new information about Laurent. Information that he wasn’t entirely sure he had comprehended correctly. Information that Damen hopes he misheard or misinterpreted. 

Damen takes another gander over at his father and Mr. deVere. They are conversing pleasantly, his father slapping a hand on Mr. deVere’s shoulder. There’s no way his father knows. He would never act so brotherly towards a man with such a horrific secret. Not a man, Damen corrects himself, a monster. 

He turns away from the party and heads outside, jacket be damned. Laurent’s car is not difficult to find. Damen had expected more of a search seeing as he had also expected Laurent to leave immediately. His car is parked amongst the others, but it is the only one running, making it even easier to identify. As if the fact that it is a Bugatti is not differentiating enough. Damen vaguely remembers Laurent’s car from the movie night, remembers being shocked that he would casually drive such a luxury sports car, but it helps that it’s on. And then, of course, there is Laurent. 

Laurent’s eyes are closed, his head leaning back against the headrest. When Damen knocks softly on the passenger window, Laurent only opens his eyes and slowly shifts his focus so that he can regard Damen. He sighs and uses one finger to gingerly press the button that lowers the window. Damen waits for the window to stop moving before he speaks.

“May I?”

“You want to come in?”

“If you’ll let me.”

Far too exhausted to object, Laurent simply runs a hand through his hair and unlocks the car doors. Damen opens the door and sits down. The seat must have been last used by Nicaise because it’s so far up that his legs are scrunched up halfway to his chest. He searches Laurent’s face for permission to put the seat back, but he is even more expressionless than ever. 

They’re both silent as Damen moves the seat back. They’re silent as Damen rolls the window back up. They’re silent in the moments that follow as well. There are no words to properly address the topic at hand. Laurent stares blankly into the distance. Damen stares concernedly at him. How does one even begin to bring up the topics that plague Damen’s mind. Laurent looks absolutely dejected, like he doesn’t even want to exist. Damen has a sense that that’s not far from the truth. There is no good way to raise these issues, so he doesn’t bother.

“Nice car, by the way.”

Laurent says, “you’ve seen it before.”

“You didn’t let me get a word in edgewise before you started accusing me of ratting you out to Nicaise.”

The sides of his lips quirk upwards halfheartedly. He still does not look over at Damen, just peers up at the stars through the windshield. It’s partially cloudy, but Laurent’s gaze is fixed onto the patch of clear sky between the two massive clouds. “It was my father’s, then my brother’s,” he explains. There’s a wistful tone in his voice that betrays his vacant expression. “Instead of supporting local, my dad supported France.”

Damen laughs lightly. “If my dad supported Greece, we wouldn’t have any cars.”

Laurent does not return the laugh. He continues to stare at the stars. Orion is the most recognizable constellation that is currently visible, the three stars of his belt shining brightly through the dark. Damen can practically see the stars reflected in the deep blue of Laurent’s cool eyes. After a bit more silence, Laurent finally turns to him.

“Don’t pretend that you’re not pissed just because you feel bad for me.”

“I’m not-” Damen sighs. He doesn’t want to lie. Not right now. Not to Laurent. “Yeah, I’m pissed that you didn’t tell me about my brother, but… I can deal with him later. There are more pressing issues now.”

More silence. Laurent purses his lips. Damen uses the time to think over any of the ways that he could have seen this coming. He had been suspicious of the uncle since early on, but Laurent was always so catatonic. How was he to know? Except there was the way that Laurent shut him out as soon as Damen mentioned his uncle the first time they spoke. And the way he gets so stiff at first whenever Damen touches him. And the way-- Oh. Oh no.

“So I guess I understand why you left in such a hurry after the movie…”

Once again, Laurent is silent. He doesn’t grace Damen with his attention. He doesn’t grace Damen with an expression. He doesn’t even look like he has heard Damen. Damen doesn’t bother repeating himself. The music that is playing from the car speakers is not loud enough to drown out his voice. He knows that Laurent has heard him.

“I was thirteen.” The words are so quiet that they’re practically inaudible, but they don’t quiver as Damen might have expected. “My brother and father went to France for business, so I stayed with my uncle.” Damen waits, but he doesn’t expand beyond that. 

So Damen says, “I’m really sorry. I never would have made that joke had I known…”

Laurent finally turns his head to look at him. “That’s exactly the problem, Damianos. You would have censored the truth. I don’t want your pity.” His voice turns despondent. “I know that it’s disgusting, that  _ I’m _ disgusting-”

“Stop,” Damen cuts him off. He wants to reach out to touch Laurent, provide him some physical comfort like he has in the past, but things are different now. This is not the time for touching in any manner. “That has nothing to do with you. You’re blameless. Everything that was done was done to you.” Laurent closes his eyes. “My opinion of you has not changed. In fact, I’m glad you told me. I don’t want to be blind when it comes to you. I want to keep my eyes wide open.”

At that, Laurent opens his eyes, staring deeply into what feels like Damen’s soul. Laurent has beautiful eyes. 

“I don’t really care that you know or that it might have changed your opinion of me. I don’t really care about anything anymore, but,” Laurent pauses and inhales slowly. His next words come out painfully, like the slow drag of a knife against skin. “You took his side.”

“He’s just a kid.”

“ _ I’m _ just a kid,” is Laurent’s response, raw and utterly eye-opening. “We’re  _ all _ kids.”

Laurent is right, of course. Aimeric looked young and acted immaturely, but in reality he must be around the same age as Laurent. Damen keeps forgetting that Laurent is only twenty. He never acts his age. He’s so reserved and dignified, only rarely indulges in activities young adults would consider fun. Damen recalls the photos in his wallet. Laurent looks younger when he smiles.

“I’m sorry…”

“I’m not the first, nor am I the last. He’s never going to stop because he knows he can get away with it.”

“We’ll stop him,” Damen says. He means it. “I’ll do whatever it takes. If I can claim Akielon Industries, I swear I’ll help you take down your uncle. Even if I don’t… ”

“You’re optimistic. Foolishly so…”

“Why is that?”

“You don’t know my uncle,” is Laurent’s explanation. “Not really. He’s loquacious. He can twist the truth to be whatever he wants. He’ll use his silver-tongue to make you loathe me.”

“You’re not giving either of us enough credit.”

At that, Laurent reaches forward and turns up the music. That’s the end of that conversation, Damen supposes. On the bright side, he recognizes the song that Laurent is playing. Damen doesn’t remember the title offhand, but he knows the artist. A quick glance to the radio confirms his knowledge and informs him that the song is playing from Laurent’s phone, not the radio.

He lets the song continue playing for a few seconds before he speaks. He enjoys seeing the way that the tension seems to evaporate from Laurent’s body as he listens to each note and hears each lyric. He knows that Laurent doesn’t allow many people to see him with any of his walls down, so he feels honored to see such a stripped down version of the man.

“Hozier? You really are depressed,” Damen comments lightheartedly. “Next you’re gonna play Joni Mitchell.”

“Next I’m gonna kick you out of my car if you disrespect either of those artists again.”

Damen laughs. There’s no fire behind Laurent’s voice. After the evening they have just had, it’s a welcome change to hear Laurent’s easy teasing again. Damen didn’t realize how much he missed it. Not just this evening, but the entire week. 

He lets his eyes wander to where Laurent’s right hand is resting on his phone. The light is too dim for him to see well, but he can tell that the skin on the top of his hand is already significantly discoloured. The hit had not been weak. Damen can’t imagine that it is not painful for Laurent, but Laurent doesn’t pay his hand any mind. 

“Is your hand okay?” It’s odd to be asking the assailant this before the victim, but it was undeniably provoked. Laurent looks as if he has no idea what Damen is referencing. “May I?”

When Laurent realizes that Damen is gesturing to his hand, he holds it out for him precariously. Damen makes sure to be as gentle as he can as he takes hold of Laurent’s hand. Laurent’s hands are an oxymoron. They’re willowy and delicate, but strong and harsh. They’re white in complexion but now tainted with splotches of red. They’ll definitely bruise within the next few days. They’re conflicting, just like Laurent.

Damen looks up from Laurent’s hand to see Laurent gazing at him. His eyes are wide, lighter than they’ve been all night. More indecipherable than they’ve been all night. Various strands of his hair are falling into his face, obscuring the blue. He no longer appears to be on edge, but his walls are up. 

“It’s fine,” Laurent declares, taking his hand back once Damen has started rubbing his thumb over the bruising skin lightly. 

He cradles his hand in his other hand and presses down on the sore skin, much harder than Damen had been. He watches the skin turn white until he raises his thumb and allows the skin to return to red. Hozier continues crooning about how good it feels to be alone with his lover. His voice is deep and Laurent looks entranced, both with the song and with the marks he can make on his skin simply using touch. 

The song ends and the sounds filling the car become yet another song that Damen is familiar with. “And SZA? Who hurt you?”

Laurent looks cynically incredulous. Damen’s face drops as he realizes what he has just said. To his surprise, Laurent only blinks at him and then says, “I’ll let that one slide.”

Laughter springs up from him gently. He’s not laughing at Laurent, just at himself for asking such a question so soon after he has learned so much intensely personal information about him, information that answers the very question that he asked. 

He has learned so much about Laurent tonight, but Laurent still knows virtually nothing about him. He should change that, he knows he should. The disparity between what they know about each other is uncomfortable. It’s no wonder that Laurent has all of his walls fortified. They’re not on equal standing ground right now.

“I should have known that Kastor would pull something like this. He never even comforted me or Dad when my mother died.”

“He’s your…”

“Half brother,” Damen confirms. “We used to be really close, but then we got old enough to play sports and I started surpassing him in all the things our dad cares about. It didn’t help that I went to a boarding school for high school, and he didn’t. We just kept growing apart from there”

He checks to make sure that Laurent doesn’t look bored or annoyed by his rantings, but he actually looks interested. He’s paying attention to Damen and seems to be actually listening, not just pretending to listen like Jokaste always does. Damen almost doesn’t know how to handle this fact.

“Are you not angry?”

“I am. I was…” Damen can’t bring himself to feel angry right now, not while he can see Laurent who looks caring. Damen has never seen this expression on Laurent before, but it does not look ill placed. “I love Kastor. I really do. I would do almost anything for him, but I’m not going to roll over and hand him the company I’ve been preparing to inherit for my entire life. I don’t know why he would even expect that of me.”

There’s nothing else that Damen can think of to add on that doesn’t make him seem like a spoiled brat. He’s a bit spoiled, but he’s not a brat. Laurent saves him from coming up with something else to say by sympathizing with him. It’s the last thing Damen expects of him.

“Family is complicated.” Understatement of the year coming from Laurent. “My brother used to tell me that he loved me more than life. I suppose that didn’t mean all that much in the end…”

Damen takes a second to internalize those words. He takes more than a second to internalize those words. He met Laurent’s brother when they were both younger, high school or college age. It’s not a memory that he contemplates often. It seemed irrelevant considering the fact that he had vanished off the face of the earth, leaving behind a flurry of rumours surrounding his disappearance. The man, Auguste if Damen remembers correctly, was just a few years older than him and already actively working to inherit their company. He provided the incentive that Damen needed to persuade his father to give him a more involved position at Akielon Industries. Without Auguste, Damen might never have inherited Akielos Industries.

Although he might still not, he has Auguste to thank for getting this far.

During this time of recollection, he searches Laurent’s face for any clue as to what he means regarding his brother. Laurent’s face remains blank. The silence returns as they stare at each other, neither one speaking until they both do.

“Did your brother-?”

“You have a visitor.”

A knock on the window startles Damen into practically jumping to turn around. Standing outside of the car, looking incredibly cross is Jokaste. A part of him wonders what the consequences would be if he just ignored her. Damen is really not in the mood, but he rolls the window down nevertheless.

“Where the fuck were you?!” Damen was wrong. She’s not cross. She’s absolutely livid. “I looked like an idiot in there searching for you!”

“Babe, relax,” he placates. “Can we talk about this later?”

Jokaste blinks a few times before she laughs. It’s a truculent sound, only slightly less terrifying than Laurent’s voice when he had been calumniating Aimeric. At least Laurent had been provoked. Damen has done nothing to incite Jokaste’s anger.

“Fine, Damianos. Fine. We’ll talk about it later. Like we do with fucking everything. I’ll see you at home.”

She turns and walks away, somehow managing to stomp off while wearing stilettos to match her bright red dress. Damen hardly even noticed what she was wearing or what she looked like when she was standing in front of him. As he watches her walk away, he wonders what happened between them. Something isn’t working. They don’t mesh in the same way they used to. What happened to their love?

“Trouble in paradise?”

Laurent’s tone is light, full of mirth in a way that he wouldn’t have suspected. Damen does not feel similarly. 

“I wouldn’t even call it that anymore…”

Damen trails off. There was a time when he would have considered his relationship to be paradise. Back when Jokaste seemed to read his mind and anticipate his every need. Back when his father clapped him on the shoulder and told him that he had found a good one and he should try to keep her. Back when he thought that Jokaste was the only person in the world who could stand up to him. Back when he thought Jokaste was the smartest person he had ever met with the most beautiful eyes he had ever seen. He’s not so sure anymore.

Laurent’s observance has slipped back to the sky. Most of the clouds have dissipated, revealing even more constellations, yet he seems to sense Damen’s attention. Damen is once again met with stunning blue eyes that make him feel so openhearted and candid. He wants to run his fingers through Laurent’s pale hair and cup his face. He wants to touch his thumb to Laurent’s agape pink lips. He wants to be so much closer than they are allowed to be.

They don’t feel like friends. Damen doesn’t know what they are, but they can’t possibly be friends. He’s never had this feeling of uncertainty in a relationship before. Never before has he found himself confusing platonic love for something else entirely.

“What are you doing tonight? Can I come by your place?”

“Shouldn’t you be comforting your girlfriend?”

Damen grimaces. “She needs some time to cool down. I’m not in the mood to be yelled at for doing nothing.”

Laurent breathes out something akin to laughter. “Not again, you mean?”

He could be referring to Jokaste yelling at Damen just now, him yelling at Damen earlier, or even Jokaste yelling at Damen this afternoon. Damen has been yelled at for seemingly no reason several times today. Yet he can’t seem to find his frustration with either of them. Not when Laurent is looking at him with those glimmering blue eyes and lightly drumming two of his fingers against his phone in time with the song playing.

“In the spirit of eyes wide open,” Laurent begins, sounding slightly hesitant. “I should tell you that your girlfriend is using you. You’d still like to come over?”

“Using me? She seems like she hates me right now. What could she possibly be using me for?”

Laurent tilts his head. “I know you’re not inept, Damen. Shove your naïveté and misplaced loyalty aside for a moment.”

The words themselves are harsh. The tone is factual with no trace of the malice that typically accompanies Laurent’s abrasive statements. Damen knows he’s right. He’s known for a while, but it was too painful to come to the realization that his long time girlfriend was a golddigger at the same time that he realized his brother was betraying him. He thinks he’s ready to confront the truth about Jokaste now. 

He needs to end things between them. It’s almost impossible to consider seeing as they’ve been dating for so long and had countless conversations about marriage, but it’s his only option. He can’t go on like this. There’s nothing valuable left in their relationship to hang on to except for the memories. Memories cannot sustain a healthy marriage.

“To answer your question, yes. I do still want to come over.”

Laurent appears baffled. “Nicaise might be asleep by the time we get there…”

“I don’t want to come over to hang out with Nicaise,” Damen explains although he really feels like he shouldn’t need to at this point. “Nicaise is awesome, but I want to spend time with you.”

Now Laurent looks beyond baffled. “But…  _ I _ yelled at you, too.” Damen shrugs. “I didn’t tell you about your brother or your girlfriend until now.”

“You’re under no obligation to point out the people conspiring against me, Laurent." Although he would have appreciated a heads up. "Despite what you might think, I’m not helpless.”

Laurent’s head drops a bit, his hair falling into his face and acting as a veil of sorts. “You know about me…”

“Your past is your past. Who am I to judge that?”

After holding himself back for so long, Damen cannot help himself anymore. He reaches out and pushes the hair behind Laurent’s ear. He’s trying to avoid physical contact as much as possible, but it’s still far more tender of a moment than Damen anticipated. Had their interactions always been this intimate and he had just failed to notice? 

Damen can see tension appear in Laurent’s face, as though he’s trying to prevent himself from speaking or doing something. One hand clutches his knee, while the injured hand now grasps his phone as opposed to playfully tapping against it. Damen reaches out to gently take his injured hand and flip both of their hands. This motion reveals the back of Laurent’s phone. In his phone case is his half of the photobooth strip. It’s such an unexpected revelation that Damen can feel himself beam. Laurent quickly flips his phone back over.

In spite of all of Laurent’s aloofness and detached façade, he does enjoy Damen’s company. The flush that is creeping onto Laurent’s cheeks is proof enough of this. 

He can’t seem to convince the smile to leave his face. He’s so incredibly happy that Laurent is fond of spending time with him. It’s just the tiniest bit of reassurance, but it’s more than Laurent has yet to willingly provide Damen with. Usually Damen is fine with reading body language and reading in between the lines, but there is something gratifying about this slip of paper in Laurent’s phone case. It’s not even really about the reassurance that Laurent likes spending time with him. It’s about the fact that Laurent felt strongly enough about the photos that he almost didn't keep to store them in his phone. It’s the fact that Laurent has been carrying around photos of them together wherever he goes. It’s the fact that Laurent cares far more than he lets on.

“My photos are better,” Damen replies simply as he opens the car door.

Laurent turns the engine on, his face still red. “Shut up.” He keeps his eyes locked on the driveway, but Damen can see a similar smile threatening to invade Laurent’s face even as he climbs out of the car. He wants to close the door to prevent the warm air from escaping, however he can’t help but leave Laurent with one last remark before they meet up again.

“You have such a beautiful smile.”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> listen, i am so sorry. Reading this chapter fucks me up and I'm the one who wrote it.
> 
> Happy Valentine's Day lmaooooo


	7. Chapter Seven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like I should mention that I didn't decide the deVere's business should be called "Cuire" because it sounds like "queer". I deadass didn't even make the connection until after I had already committed. I just liked that it was French, about cooking, and it rhymed :( 
> 
> Anyway, I officially crowned Damen as a POC because ancient Greeks were much darker in complexion than Greeks today, and because as a POC myself, I can do whatever I want. Therefore, Damianos of Akielos, I hereby dub thee Person of the Colour!

Damianos touAkielos is standing in his bedroom. 

This time it is just the two of them. Nicaise is in his room doing God knows what. Uncle is still at the party, probably further ruining Laurent’s likelihood at inheriting the company that his father had promised to him after Auguste’s passing. Jokaste is probably still at the party as well, most likely flirting with whoever the richest man is that she thinks she can manipulate. There is something respectable about her commitment to maintaining an upscale lifestyle.

“It’s not pristine,” Laurent justifies as he hastily collects the sweats he had been living in for the past week. He now regrets having thrown them to the floor rather than putting them in the hamper. Although his hamper is overflowing with clothes, so there really was no great solution.

“It’s fine. I half-expected to see a Joni Mitchell CD lying around.” Damen walks in, sweeping his eyes around the room until they eventually land back on Laurent. “I’m a little disappointed.”

Laurent almost snorts. “That wasn’t the only reason I liked the movie, you know.” Having decided that there’s no point in continuing to tidy up, Laurent sits on the foot of his bed and slips his shoes off. “Hugh Grant is attractive as well.”

Damen decides to claim the chair at Laurent’s desk. It’s about half-way across the room, but there’s nothing blocking the view thus it’s easy to converse from their positions. His desk and chair might also be the cleanest part of his room tonight. Usually there is a pile of clothing on the chair, but Laurent had moved the pile to its appropriate spot in the laundry hamper before he left so that he could work on a few emails. He only ever seems to use his desk for writing mail: both physical and electronic.

“He is, isn’t he? You should come over again, and we’ll watch all of his best movies.”

This must be the fourth or fifth time that Damen has invited him somewhere, and they have only truly known each other for somewhere around a month. Perhaps that’s a normal amount for normal people, but Laurent is not normal. He has not hung out with anyone, excluding family, this much since… Ever. He’s never hung out with anyone this often. Only the people he lives with and therefore have no choice in the matter. Damen will get tired of him soon. It’s only a matter of time.

Them hanging out so much this past month was fine for Laurent. He had no other obligations, so the only barrier was how exhausted he would feel. But Damen is not Laurent. Damen is the president of Akielon Industries, which is not merely a figurehead position. Damen is in charge of an entire workforce and their budgets. Damen has to work closely with the board of directors and other executives. That’s no small task.

“Shouldn’t you have work?”

“Shouldn’t you have class?”

The regret appears on his face extremely quickly, but Laurent is not hurt. He’s impressed with the speed that Damen came up with the retort. Not to mention, it’s the truth. He should have school. He should still be in school. It’s embarrassing that he is not, but he can’t risk the humiliation his Uncle would undoubtedly use against him if he were to flunk out. Not to mention the damage to his self confidence.

“You know I don’t… I dropped out last year,” Laurent tells him. Damen looks very nonthreatening and even empathetic. “I just couldn’t keep up. It was too overwhelming…”

“I understand.” Damen takes a deep breath before he begins. “I had a really rough time in high school when my mother was first diagnosed with cancer. I felt so powerless and angry at everything and everyone. It didn’t help that I was basically an outsider at my own school.”

“How do you mean?”

“I was confused about my ethnicity and race, and I went to a boarding school where I was the only person of color until Nikandros transferred. He was in the same position as me, so we’ve been friends ever since. He’s been a better brother to me than Kastor, and he’s not even my blood.”

There’s something odd about hearing Damen speak so frankly about his past. It’s not a bad odd, the opposite in fact. It’s pleasant, humanizing. Damen really is a person with problems of his own right. It’s a comfort to know this about someone like Damen, someone who is so positive and presents himself as if he is on top of the world. If someone like Damen can feel insecure in himself, it’s not so bad for Laurent to, as well.

“Why doesn’t he like me?”

Damen furrows his brows. “Which one?”

“Nikandros.”

  
“Oh,” Damen breathes out. His mouth contorts to an awkward position. He’s either trying to figure out the answer or trying to figure out how to phrase it. “He does. He doesn’t want to like you because you remind him of… Jokaste, actually. Nik’s never liked her, but he does like you.”

That answer does not completely sell Laurent. He can understand Nikandros seeing the similarities between him and Jokaste; he feels like an inferior version of her. But he did not get the feeling that Nikandros liked him. Not in the slightest. He felt some respect when he beat Nikandros in the video game they played, but that was the extent of any positive feelings that he received from the man.

A smile slowly creeps onto Damen’s face. “You actually care what my friends think of you?”

“Obviously not,” Laurent answers too quickly to be believable. Rookie mistake. “Even if I did care, Jord’s already asked me on a date.”

The smile drops much faster than it had appeared, even faster than Laurent had replied. It’s such a visceral reaction that Laurent can’t help his own smirk. There is no real reason for Damen to have such an aversion to the two of them dating, at least not one that Damen has provided him with, yet every time the topic is brought up, Damen acts as if it's the worst idea he’s ever heard.

“He what? No, he did not! What did you say?”

Laurent shrugs and crosses his ankles. “I told him I’d think about it.”

Damen looks like he has just swallowed something sour. His lovely full lips are pressed together hard and his eyebrows knit together. He doesn’t make eye contact, looks just off to the side of Laurent. This sincere man is helplessly horrid at hiding his emotions. Laurent can’t just read him like a book, he can read him like a Times Square billboard.

Neither of them get the chance to call each other out before there’s a knock on the door. There are only two people that it could possibly be, and one of those options would be disastrous. Laurent holds his breath as soon as he hears the first knock and doesn’t release it until he hears Nicaise’s voice call out his name. 

The door opens and Nicaise pops in, dressed in pyjamas with nothing but his phone in his hand. His eyes dart between Laurent and Damen, taking in not only their presence but also their distance. It’s a peculiar situation. Laurent is sure that it is not what Nicaise had anticipated when he knocked on the door. The confusion leads him to hover in the doorway, not daring to actually enter the room.

“I thought I heard you, but Damen? What are you doing here?”

Damen smiles, having seemingly forgotten about their previous conversation already. “What? I have to be taking you driving in order to come over?”

Nicaise, on the other hand, frowns. Not in a way that would suggest he is sad, simply confused and unable to put the pieces together. “No, but I- why are either of you here?”

“The christmas party was shit.”

“Hey!” Damen interjects. The pout on his face is unfairly adorable. “The party itself was good. You didn’t have to go and commit assault and battery.”

“Fucking excuse me?” Nicaise almost looks proud. “You got into a fight?”

“Dude, he decked someone.” 

The self-satisfied smile that appears on Laurent’s face at Damen’s description of the events only surfaces because he’s too exhausted to prevent it. He regrets absolutely nothing from the evening. He hit Aimeric because Aimeric was being a sanctimonious prick and bringing up things that he had no right to mention. Damen had only caught the latter half of it. Aimeric was lucky to get off that easy.

If Damen had heard the first part of the conversation, he would not have told Laurent to back down. He would have told Aimeric to leave and then hugged Laurent while telling him that his brother’s death was not his fault. At least that’s what he imagines Damen would have done. Damen seems the type to lie in order to comfort someone, but he often struggles to predict what course of action Damen will choose.

“Anyway, you see why we had to take our leave.” Laurent pulls himself further onto his bed so that he can cross his legs as he says this.

But Nicaise shakes his head. “No. I see why  _ you _ had to leave. Damen didn’t have to.”

Damen smiles sheepishly. “My girlfriend and I had a pretty bad fight before the party.” Laurent had not known that. “She showed up, so I’m giving her some time to cool off.”

The look that crosses between Laurent and Nicaise is a conversation in itself. They exchange twice the number of silent words in that split second glance than the three of them have exchanged in audible words during this conversation. Nicaise claps his hands together lightly to signal the end of the discussion.

“Well, I wish you the best with all that shit. I’d love to stay and chat, but I have exams to study for,” Nicaise says before he holds up a peace sign and heads back to his room.

His exams were last week. He doesn’t have any classes or classwork until the new year. The only thing preventing him from joining their conversation is the fact that he still wants Damen and Laurent to hook up. It’s the naïve teenager in him that believes it could ever work. Laurent doesn’t know how many times he’s told the boy that it would never work out between the two of them after coming back from Damen essentially sweeping him off of his feet.

But Nicaise has seemed more upbeat this week, so Laurent doesn’t want to bring him down. As opposed to spending his free evenings searching for older men who will potentially send him money in exchange for his time, he watches Netflix with Laurent like a normal teenager. Neither of them have ever been able to consider themselves normal before. 

“I should thank you for taking Nicaise to therapy. You really didn’t have to. I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to-”

“Laurent, it’s fine,” Damen cuts him off with a soothing smile. “I just hope that you’ll finally agree to go as well.” Laurent purses his lips but does not respond. “I’ve been meaning to ask you, what was in the letter that you wrote?”

“The truth.”

He told Nicaise that it was time to stop pretending that what Uncle did hadn’t affected them. He told Nicaise that this might be the only chance to get the therapy that he desperately needs. He told Nicaise that if he started and continued going to his appointments, Laurent would start going as well. The latter of those reasonings would have been the one to seal the deal. 

Nicaise knows that if Laurent starts going to therapy, he’ll either get a job which would enable them to move out or finish college which will enable him to take back Cuire. Both of those end with Laurent and Nicaise finding their freedom. Together of course. Laurent would never leave Nicaise to fend for himself in this household although he’s sure that the boy is more than capable of doing so.

“I don’t know if he’s told you anything,” he begins. “But he’s had his fair share of issues since that time.”

Damen looks around. He’s clearly got something on his mind that he’s not sure if he should voice. “He mentioned Mr. A. Am I allowed to ask?”

Laurent sighs and rubs a hand over his face. “Mr. Audin is just a sleazy teacher that had been texting back and forth with Nic last year. I took care of it.”

“Meaning you reported him to the police and got him fired, right?” Damen says it slowly, like he already knows this is not the case.

Laurent replies just as slowly as he says, “no?” That option hadn’t even occurred to Laurent. Even if it had, he would not have selected it. “I impersonated Nicaise and then blackmailed him.”

Nicaise had been pissed when Laurent stole his phone, but he assured the boy that he only needed it for the weekend. He spent that weekend sending and receiving texts that made him want to vomit but allowed him to make plans to meet up with the man. Laurent was only a year or so out of being underage himself, but the murderous look on his face was enough to show Audin that he was not to be played with. He threatened to send the messages to everyone in the man’s life if he ever texted Nicaise again. Laurent gave Nicaise his phone back and told him not to ask. A week later, Nicaise came home talking about how he was going to have a substitute teacher for the rest of the year for one of his classes.

All of the screenshots are still saved to his phone.

“You both really need therapy,” Damen says with an awkward chuckle. Laurent finds himself breathing out a breath of laughter as well.

When silence fills the room, the distance between them feels even more obvious. In the past, Damen has always taken the initiative to close the gap between them. Neither of them make any movements to lessen the space now. They stare across the chasm at each other unmoving, both lost in their own minds.

Laurent does not know what’s going on between them at this moment. He had finally adjusted to Damen’s constant touching and now Damen has suddenly pulled back. Laurent would chalk it up to Damen not wanting to touch him without his consent now that he knows about Uncle, but the distance between them has grown since they parted ways to meet back here. Maybe Damen is disgusted and it only registered on the car ride when he had some time by himself to think. Maybe Damen is regretting even coming here. Maybe Damen would rather be at home getting yelled at than be here with disgusting Laurent.

Damen breaks the silence. His tone is low but after the prolonged quiet, his voice sounds deafening. “If it’s not too personal of a question, why wouldn’t your Uncle have paid for your therapy? Or what about your inheritance?”

“I have no inheritance,” he replies, pressing down hard on the top of his hand. “My father’s will was never found, and his lawyer has no record of it either. My Uncle would never pay for me to get help because he wants me as weak as possible. The weaker I am, the stronger his control over Cuire is.”

“That’s bullshit.”

Laurent is taken aback. “Pardon me?”

“Fuck that man to hell and beyond,” Damen declares as he stands from the chair. “We’re going to get you therapy and registered in classes, and we’re going to do it tonight. Where is your laptop?”

He’s so shocked that all he can do is wordlessly reach for the laptop that he knows is higher up on the bed. He keeps watch on Damen as he pulls out his phone and makes for Laurent’s bed. Laurent’s brain is too muddled to think through what is about to happen. Damen’s words have still not entirely processed by the time Damen has sat next to him and is encouraging Laurent to open up his laptop. There is still space between them. Very noticeable space between them. Only a few inches at most, and it’s far less than the feet that separated them before but just as noticeable. 

Laurent types in his password without even thinking about it. His mind still hasn’t caught up, so he follows Damen’s directions of what to search. He’s able to do the mindless typing with no issues but when Damen points a passage out on the screen, Laurent realizes that it’s a blur. Literally. 

So he slides the computer onto Damen’s lap and heads over to his desk without so much as an explanation. Once he has grabbed the glasses, he turns back around and walks back to the bed. Damen is sitting there, looking quizzically at Laurent. 

“What?”

“They’re reading glasses,” Damen notes.

He sits back down, maintaining the slight distance between them, and puts the glasses on. 

“My brother always said I would need them if I kept reading books in the dark. I didn’t listen.”

He rarely brings up his brother. He has no one to share the memories with, and even the sweet ones are often too painful. He looks back down at the computer screen that displays the home page of the college he had dropped out of just a year ago. The first decade of his life and the second feel like entirely different worlds. 

“You would have liked him so much,” Laurent says.  _ So much more than me _ , he doesn’t say.

“I did.” Laurent whips his head up. “I only met him once or twice when our dads would bring us to meetings, but I really looked up to him. I always thought he eloped or-”

“He didn’t.”

Not now. He cannot handle this right now. He refuses to cry right now, especially when Damen is here, seeming prepared to have a conversation that Laurent might never be ready for. He turns back to the computer instead and scoots away from Damen slightly, furthering the space between them. Damen does not move to address this.

“I don’t think I should go back to a full time schedule yet.”

“Then don’t,” is Damen’s obvious solution. “Just take a few classes and wean yourself back into it. You should email your admissions officers and see if you can get into contact with your former academic advisor.”

“Bold of you to assume, I even remember who that was.”

The sound of Damen’s laugh is as melodic as always, never too loud, always low enough to never startle Laurent but not low enough to be practically inaudible. His eyes sparkle as his face fills with joy, his singular dimple making its appearance. He is objectively beautiful, and the fact that he wants to help Laurent with no reward for doing so just makes it worse. Laurent cannot look away.

They spend the next half hour making plans for classes for Laurent to take and discussing various superfluous topics that arise. The space between them never diminishes, and the fact that they are reading off of the same screen makes this separation even more awkward. It’s the longest they’ve ever gone without making physical contact of any sort. 

Laurent wonders if Damen has noticed this abnormality. He must have noticed. He’s the one doing this. Laurent has not changed his behaviours in any way. Damen is the one who has adjusted so significantly in such a short time span. When they were in Laurent’s car together, Damen had held his hand without even seeming to think about it. Now every time their eyes meet, Laurent can see the irresolution.

“You should get in touch with Aimeric, too,” Damen says once Laurent has at last sent the email to his academic advisor.

“You expect me to apologize?” Laurent’s heart starts beating faster with frustration. He had thought that Damen understood their dissension. Clearly not. “He began the altercation. I merely ended it.”

“Yes, but he’s close to your Uncle.” Laurent’s heart stops. His eyes widen. He doesn’t listen when Damen continues with, “He could help convince your Uncle to give you partial ownership. Or at least add you to his will if he hasn’t already.” 

Nothing after Damen’s first sentence is important. He’s embarrassed to have not thought of it before. Hopefully he has not ruined his chances by hitting him. Although even if he has, he has a suspicion that he’ll be able to rectify things fairly quickly.

“You’re right.”

Damen lets out a laugh of disbelief. “Well, that’s not the response I was expecting, but I’m glad you’re actually listening to me.”

“I listen to you.”

“You listen when you want to,” Damen says with a smile. 

He feels light years away and mere particles away at the same time. They fall silent as they stare at each other. The only movement is their blinking and breathing. Damen’s already dark brown eyes seem black as they stare back at him, his smile falling slowly. Laurent has to actively prevent himself from licking his lips while admiring Damen’s mouth.

“Um- I should go talk to Jokaste,” Damen says awkwardly, standing from the bed abruptly and pointing his thumb towards the door as if Laurent does not know where the exit is. Laurent knows where his own bedroom door is.

“Yes. You should.” 

Damen is halfway out the door when Laurent’s phone lights up with an email. He doesn’t need to read past the subject line.

“Damen, you’ll become CEO of Akielon Industries. That, I promise you.”

^^^^^

If there’s one thing Nicaise has learned in his nearly seventeen years of life, it’s that adults don’t know what the hell they’re doing either. They’ll pretend to and talk down to him because he’s still technically a child, but they’re always faking it. Nicaise knows essentially the same amount about the world as they do. He first came across this epiphany when he convinced Mr. Audin to give him an A in his class without having to do any homework or class assignments. Of course Laurent had to come along and end that halfway through the year, but he still finished the class with a nearly perfect score. He wasn’t doing it for the grade in the first place; he was doing it to prove that he could. 

Adults are just as stupid if not more stupid than he is. The only exception is Laurent, and even Laurent shows the occasional lapse in good judgement. The most obvious example of such is the fact that Laurent won’t just kiss Damen and tell him to break up with his girlfriend. They’re both brainlessly obsessed with each other, but Laurent always says something about owing it to Damen not to ruin what seems like a perfectly healthy relationship between a sugar daddy and a golddigger. At least now it’s obvious that the foundation of that relationship has some serious cracks. 

In the three years that Nicaise has known him, he has never seen Laurent this happy. Laurent says he’s just happy that Nicaise is finally getting the help that he needs. Nicaise knows that’s only part of it. Another part is the fact that Laurent himself has begun going to therapy. The final part has to do with who sent him to therapy in the first place. As much as Laurent hates to admit it, Damen makes him happier than he usually is. He’s still not as happy as Nicaise would like to see him, but at least Laurent showers a minimum of once a week without Nicaise having to remind him. And he’s brushing his teeth every day which is also an improvement.

It’s not that Nicaise would murder Damen if he ever ruined things with Laurent, but he would without a doubt work to ruin Damen’s life. And he wouldn’t rule out some light stabbing either.

He’s never truly considered it. Well, he hadn’t truly considered it until Damen came to pick him up today and explained that he was still in a relationship with the girlfriend. Maybe Nicaise is biased, he’s always biased, but if he was Damen, he would have dumped her as soon as he met Laurent. But Damen is an adult and therefore he is stupid. Not as stupid as most, but still undeniably stupid.

“Are you going to buy me something for my birthday?” It’s the day before Christmas eve, so there’s still just over a week before his birthday, but it’s never too early to start sourcing presents.

“When’s your birthday?” Damen asks, snatching the keys Nicaise has tossed from the air.

“New Year’s.”

Old wives’ tales claim that babies born on New Year’s Day are lucky. That's a crock of shit. In fact, Nicaise has found the opposite to be the case. From bouncing through multiple different foster homes to finally being adopted by a creep, Nicaise has not led a privileged life. Making plans to move out with Laurent as soon as he reaches eighteen has been the most exciting part of his life thus far.

“Fuck yeah,” Damen says smiling. He waits for them both to get out of the car and close the doors behind them before he continues with, “you and Laurent should spend New Year’s Eve at my place. My friend Nikandros might come over, too, but he’s chill.”

“What about your girlfriend?” Nicaise retorts.

Damen stops on the front stoop. The grimace on his face makes him look constipated. “That’s… complicated.”

Oh. Okay. Good. Nicaise’s manifestations must be working. To think Laurent called them stupid. Tonight Nicaise will manifest an apology from Laurent. And a trip to Fiji. 

He doesn’t audibly respond to that, just raises his eyebrows and lets them both into the house. It’s the first time Damen has been back since Laurent dropped the bomb about Uncle. Both bombs actually. Nicaise might just be an asshole, but he kind of wanted to be the one to tell Damen that Uncle was screwing him over. 

He wishes Damen luck on confronting Uncle and makes his way to his room. Or rather, he starts to make his way to his room. His trip is interrupted by the sound of Damen’s voice booming from the kitchen. It doesn’t take much to convince him to eavesdrop. Especially when Nicaise has never heard Damen so angry before. He sounds like he might actually throw hands with Uncle, and Nicaise  _ needs _ to be present to witness that.

There is a corner in which Nicaise can hide in order to watch the interaction. Uncle’s back is towards him, but he can see Damen’s face down to each furrow of his brow. 

“You’re two-timing me? Kastor has neither the experience nor the general intelligence to run Akielon Industries.”

“Yes, I’m well aware of that, but you present a conflict of interest,” Uncle says and takes a step towards Damen. Damen stands his ground in a way that Nicaise could only imagine doing. “As long as you want to be between my dear nephew’s legs, you’ll do anything for him. You understand why I cannot have that.”

“Laurent is my friend-” Nicaise breathes a laugh out of his nose as quietly as possible. Damen cannot be  _ that _ stupid.

“I don’t blame you. When Laurent came to live with me, he tempted me similarly with his wiles. I wouldn’t have normally gone for him at that age, but he convinced me to make an exception.”

“You glib bastard, he was thirteen! He didn’t tempt you for shit!”

His words and his tone are lethal, but Uncle only leers at him. “Laurent was not thirteen when my brother died.”

Damen, despite his light brown skin, looks as white as a sheet. It doesn’t even look like he’s seen a ghost, he looks like he is a ghost. All of the rebuttals that had seemingly been coming to Damen effortlessly stop. This is what Laurent should have warned him of. Laurent evidently did not tell the whole story to Damen last week, and leaving Damen to go in essentially blind was cruel.

Suddenly the shock turns into fury. As Nicaise watches the blood return to Damen’s face, he hides behind the corner. It’s improbable, but the idea of being the victim of that fury is formidable.

“Do your worst.” Each word is punctuated with a pause. “When I’m running Akielon Industries, I will make sure you’re blacklisted at every company from here to South Africa. You will never touch Laurent again.”

“And when you don’t get promoted?”

The lack of response tempts Nicaise to peek back around the corner. He wonders what could have caused such a prolonged silence. Damen’s low, hostile voice makes him freeze, stopping any thoughts he had of moving.

“I’ll fucking kill you.”

^^^^^

Damen can’t remember a breakup where he did not confide in Nikandros. He also can’t remember a breakup where Nikandros didn’t confide in him. All of Damen’s friends have a special place in his heart, but Nikandros is his day one. 

Not long ago, Damen thought that he wouldn’t need to unburden himself to Nikandros in regards to a relationship ever again. Clearly that wasn’t meant to be the case. Even as he prepared himself to talk to Jokaste, he thought he would be able to just mention their breakup to Nik in passing instead of spending the entire evening talking about it. That was before he found out Jokaste was in cahoots with Kastor. In cahoots together and in bed together. Damen never wanted to be tunnel buddies with his own brother.

“I shouldn’t have waited until after Christmas. I should have ripped her heart out as soon as I started feeling doubts.”

“I don’t know what to tell you, bro,” Nik replies as he walks back from the fridge, two beers in hand. “You’re too nice. You’ve always been willing to overlook the shady shit she’s done.”

Damen takes one of the bottles from Nik’s hand. “I thought I was gonna marry her.”

“Did you? I spent years telling you that she was a manipulative bitch.” Damen opens his mouth to chide him for his use of that term. “You really didn’t take in any of that?”

He’s right. Even as Damen tried to vindicate Jokaste’s more unseemly behaviour over the years, there was always a nagging voice, Nik’s nagging voice, that told him that something wasn’t right. That voice had been louder and more difficult to ignore this past month until it finally culminated in Damen sitting Jokaste down. He gave her back her heart, and she crushed his in her fist.

He looks down to where he has been aimlessly flipping his wallet open and closed. His eyes catch on the photos of him and Laurent from the photobooth. A day he had promised to Laurent that had been hijacked by Jokaste. He regrets that now, but thinking back on it, he had spent most of the day with Laurent anyway. It was an unconscious decision on his part.

Damen pulls the photo out to get a better look. He finds himself grinning as he examines Laurent’s smile in the second photo. He looks exasperated in the sweetest way possible, like Damen has finally broken down his icy exterior to reveal the endearing truth that lies beneath. 

“I think I like Laurent…”

Nikandros doesn’t even look away from the television. “Yeah… and?”

“Oh fuck. Is it that obvious?”

“Since you brought him over like a month ago.”

The Love Actually night. Damen has liked Laurent since the night they stood outside of the liquor store and practically cuddled to keep warm. He’s liked Laurent since Laurent pointed out his dimple with a beautiful, bright smile, his eyes twinkling as he looked up at Damen. He’s liked Laurent since he first heard Laurent laugh, so light and sweet, at something that wasn’t really all that funny. He’s liked him since Laurent played with the sleeves of the sweater when he thought no one was watching. Hell, he’s liked Laurent since Laurent put his sweater on, practically swimming in the excess fabric.

He liked Laurent when he and Jokaste were having a cat fight over absolutely nothing. He liked that Laurent could stand up for himself and even leave Jokaste in the dust when it came to petty ripostes. He likes that Laurent can even keep him on his toes when it comes to witticisms. He even likes that Laurent is not afraid to hurt his feelings. Jokaste always used to go out of her way to keep him happy. She finally started being more honest around the time Damen started mentioning marriage. Retrospectively, he doesn’t think that was a coincidence.

“I straight-up thought you were going to cheat on Jokaste with him.”

Damen whips his head to look at Nikandros. Nik is still staring at the television screen, but he turns to look at Damen when he sees the movement in his peripheral. He has never cheated and will never cheat on anyone even though he has been cheated on several times now. All of the touchy-feely things he did with Laurent while he and Jokaste were dating… well, the intention behind them was solely platonic.

“No! That’s not- I’d never- You  _ know _ me!” 

“I’ve just never seen you look at someone the way you looked at him,” is his explanation. 

Taking a sip of his beer, Damen considers this. It does feel like the rest of the world disappears when he’s looking into Laurent’s eyes, but it’s concerning that Nikandros had noticed. The fact that Nik knew before Damen did is annoying, but unsurprising. Nikandros is so much smarter and more perceptive than Damen gives him credit for. He’s the worst. But maybe it was more obvious than Damen had thought. Damen’s decently perceptive when it comes to others, but he knows he’s a bit oblivious in relation to himself. He gets stuck in his own viewpoints and struggles to see past his personal biases. 

He looks back down at the photos, this time concentrating on the first photo where they are both pouting at each other playfully. Laurent’s profile is stunning, upturned nose, straight brows, golden hair shrouding his ear and jawline. Damen knew that Laurent was handsome, but this is his first time really taking in his beauty. 

Laurent looks so obstinate in the photo. It shows his personality well. The stubbornness mixed with secret playfulness that most people would overlook are on display. On display for Damen only unless he chooses to share the photo with someone else. He doesn’t plan on sharing the photo with anyone else. He doesn’t plan on sharing Laurent with anyone else.

“Shit, dude, I really like Laurent,” Damen realizes aloud. “But I just broke up with Jokaste…”

“Yep,” says Nikandros.

“I need to tell her.”

“Yep.”

“And him.”

“Yep.”

“What if he doesn’t feel the same way?”

Nik pauses, looking at Damen as if he’s an idiot. “Okay, now you’re joking.”

Damen is not joking. “What?”

Nikandros rolls his eyes. He doesn’t do that often. Damen is in for it. “He looks at you like you’re a star- no. Fuck that. Like you’re a whole ass constellation. He looks at you like you’re the only constellation in the sky. In fact.” Nik plucks the photo out of Damen’s hand and throws it up into his face. Damen scrunches his eyes closed to prevent the photo from hitting him in the eyes. 

“The fuck was that for?”

“Open your eyes, dumbass.”

The irony is that Damen’s eyes have never felt more open. He likes Laurent. He wants to be with Laurent. He knows that now. If he’s completely honest with himself, he first registered that as he was driving to the deVere house after the night with Aimeric. He might not have entirely understood it until now, but he was conscious of the fact. He likes Laurent, prickly personality, problematic past, enigmatic expressions, and all.

But are the feelings returned? Nikandros seems to believe so. Damen would have to be a moron not to have noticed the many gazes that lasted just a little too long, but other than that, Laurent keeps his emotions close to his chest and refuses to express them. The only telling moment had been the fact that Laurent put his half of the photo strip in his phone case. Damen’s heart flutters at the memory of discovering the photos. And at Laurent’s flush when he uncovered it.

Now that he’s reminiscing, there was also the moment when Laurent had mentioned falling in love with someone he shouldn’t. At the time, Damen had thought that was in reference to Jord, but that hadn’t really made much sense. It makes way more sense for Laurent to have been talking about him, someone who really could not have entered a relationship with Laurent at the time. 

Yes, Damen’s eyes are open now. Wide open. All that is left is to see if Laurent’s eyes are similarly open.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> manifesting is still relevant, right? idk i literally don't know what's cool anymore.


	8. Chapter Eight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cannot believe I didn't read Pet and Adventures of Charls after I first read Capri, but I read Summer Palace and GBFAS. AO Charls is literally where Damen is confirmed to have the dimple. I was really slacking on my job as CEO of dimple kinks. 😔
> 
> About the chap, I've never had champagne, but I've had like.... cheap sparkling wine so let's pretend that it's the same because it basically is. (non-sparkling wine supremacy tho)

It’s been almost two weeks since Damen last spoke to Laurent. In person that is. Damen texted Laurent about his appointment and told him that he wouldn’t be able to take Nicaise driving because some things had come up. Laurent wonders if that’s really why Damen hasn’t come over. 

Nicaise told him about the argument that he had overheard between Uncle and Damen. Jord told him that Damen and Jokaste had broken up and that it was not an amicable split. Both of those seem like valid reasons as to why Damen would not want to come over, but Laurent’s heart tells him that if Damen wanted to, he would find a way to see him. His brain tells him that he should collect more information and stop assuming everything is about him, but his heart is difficult to ignore.

Which explains the astonishment Laurent feels when he gets a text from Damen inviting both him and Nicaise over for New Year’s Eve. He wants to say no, to distance himself from Damen in order to avoid getting hurt by his own irrational feelings, but Nicaise starts sulking when Laurent mentions turning him down. So Laurent gives in and tells him that they’ll both be there. 

Dr. Paschal says that he self-sabotages all potential friendships in his life because he has a fear of abandonment. Dr. Paschal also says that if he wants to overcome this, he must come to terms with the fact that he is not responsible for all of the events from his past that plague him to this day. Laurent has a harder time believing the latter of those claims.

Nikandros is the one who opens the door when Laurent and Nicaise get to Damen’s house the evening of New Year’s Eve, but Damen is not far behind, bounding down the stairs further inside the house in order to greet them excitedly.

“Hello, Nikandros.”

“Hi, Laurent.”

“I’m here, too,” Nicaise points out, voice dripping in sarcasm. “It’s my birthday today. Not that it matters. I’m just turning seventeen, so I’m practically an adult now. No big deal.”

It’s not his birthday today, but Nicaise likes to claim all of the surrounding days as his birthday as well. By the time Nicaise has finished making a fuss over essentially nothing, Damen has made his way behind Nikandros, further opening the door in order to get a better view of them both. This inadvertently gives Laurent a better view of him as well, biceps that rival the size of his head, dark curls that rest on his forehead, bright smile producing his signature dimple. Damn it, Damen.

“Birthday boy!” Damen exclaims wildly. Nicaise beams up at him. 

Most of the interactions between Nicaise and Damen have taken place without Laurent. Nicaise would tell Laurent about them when he got back home, but Laurent rarely ever saw for himself. He knew that Nicaise liked Damen from the fact that he continued to spend time with the man and the way he let his guard slip around him, something Nicaise usually only does around Laurent. Yet there’s something distinct about actually seeing them together for himself. Their friendship has come such a long way since the first time Damen took Nicaise driving.

Nikandros steps aside to allow them both through. Nicaise throws his arms up in the air excitedly and calls Damen’s name back to him. They act as if they’ve known each other for years. Nicaise barely even acts this freely with his friends that are his own age.

“Now where’s my present,” Nicaise asks, his smile and arms dropping as his voice becomes deadly serious.

Damen only laughs at the switch. “Already? It’s barely ten.”

“What else are we gonna do while we wait for midnight?”

They follow Damen into the basement. As it’s Nicaise’s first time visiting Damen’s home, he looks around at everything as they converse. It has only been a few weeks since Laurent was here, but there are a few crucial details that have changed. For one, it looks emptier than before. Laurent can’t remember well enough to put his finger on specifics, but he imagines that Jokaste has taken her things out of the house. There are also less photos hanging up. The ones with Kastor, Laurent would assume, have been taken down. 

“I’ve got Monopoly, and I plan on bankrupting all of you.”

“Oh, God,” Nicaise groans and rolls his eyes. “Playing monopoly with a bunch of capitalists? I should be in Times Square right now.”

Laurent refrains from mentioning that Nicise had practically begged to come here. Damen is clever enough to realize that Nicase is just being facetious. They have spent enough time with each other by now to recognize each other’s humour. 

In spite of Nicaise’s protests, they end up playing monopoly on the condition that Nicaise gets to play as the dog. Laurent ends up playing as a hat, but it’s not the character that leads to the win. Laurent proved that last time he was here. Unlike last time, Laurent has actually played Monopoly before and he knows the strategies he should employ in order to win. He chooses one section of the board, the orange section because that’s where everyone seems to be landing on the most, and buys all of those properties.

He gets close to going broke from buying up all of the properties, but Laurent is not afraid of bankruptcy. He’s practically broke in real life, so he’s no stranger to it. The placement of the houses allow him to earn back all and more of the money he spent. He ignores the utilities, allows Nikandros to buy all of those up. Instead he concentrates on upgrading all of his properties. He nearly fouls up when Damen pouts and begs for clemency instead of having to pay the $1000 dollar rent, but he manages to rein in his heart enough to deny the appeal to his goodwill.

“There’s no room in capitalism for altruism,” is his explanation.

“I don’t know why I try…”

Then Nikandros says, “I don’t know why  _ I _ expected any differently. If there’s one thing you have, it’s the fuckin’ audacity.”

“He’s like this with everything,” Nicaise chimes in. “Don’t even think about playing UNO with him. He’ll stack every draw-two and draw-four card he has against you.”

Laurent does not understand the charges that he is being arraigned for. “I play to win, and that’s how you win the game. Nikandros, you landed on Tennessee Ave. You owe me $750.”

Nikandros grumbles but pays up. Just a few minutes later, Nicaise is the first one to go bankrupt. He flops back on the floor and claims that they should be giving him their hotels since it’s his birthday. Then he starts griping about how in a more accurate version of this game, they wouldn’t have all started out with the same amount. Nikandros effectively shuts him up by asking him just who exactly would have started out with the least. 

It’s past eleven by the time Nikandros forfeits. Laurent and Damen accept his surrender as they sit over their piles of monopoly money like kings accepting the terms of an enemy’s submission. The only reason they do not continue the game is because midnight has crept up on them much faster than either expected. There’s still half an hour left, but Nicaise mentions the birthday present he has yet to receive, so they decide to end with a tie. 

Damen proposes a marriage of sorts where they share their assets and thus both win the game. Laurent argues that it’s unnecessary to do such a thing, but he can feel his face heating up. He claims that even if they had needed to do that in order to win, that would create a monopoly within Monopoly. Damen rebuts that, claiming that they can just hire a lawyer to deal with any antitrust laws that they might be violating, but they end the game when Nicaise says that they should be focusing on him since he is the birthday boy.

“Alright, alright, oh impatient one,” Damen concedes as he grabs an envelope from the table. “Here’s your gift.”

His eyes widen as he opens the envelope. “Holy fuck.”

Laurent drops the Monopoly money into the box and snatches the paper from Nicaise’s hands. The photo of a car tells him everything he needs to know. “Damen… ” When Damen said he had a birthday present for Nicaise, Laurent expected a watch or some jewelry. Not a car. Laurent doesn’t even think it’s Damen trying to buy people’s love. Maybe Damen is just that out of touch with reality. He definitely dated Jokaste for too long. “You can’t-”

“Relax, it’s just the down. Besides, Jokaste is no longer spending all of my money, so I need something to do with it.”

Shrugging off something as huge as paying for twenty percent of a car is quintessential Damen. Any other time would make Laurent feel like a charity case, but he has something for Damen that should help even the score between them. That’s for later.

“You know, maybe capitalism isn’t all that bad…”

Both Damen and Nikandros laugh at that. Laurent only shakes his head. Nicaise has failed to think about the rest of the payments, never mind all of the work that goes into maintaining a car. They’ll both need to get jobs if this is to work out. That prospect is less intimidating to Laurent than it had been even just a few weeks ago. 

Damen makes his way over to the fridge in the corner of the room as Laurent reads over the fine print. The fine print states that his card will be charged the installments monthly as agreed upon which means that while Damen, as he claimed, had only paid for the down payment, he is still planning on paying for the rest of it as well. This is exactly why Jokaste was dating him.

“Who wants some bubbly?” Damen asks, holding up a bottle and several NYE themed glasses. Both Nikandros and Nicaise yell out a positive response. “Laurent, what say you? Can Nicaise have a celebratory glass of champagne?”

“It’s none of my concern. He's not my kid.” 

The smile that appears on Nicaise’s face contrasts sharply with the open mouthed shock that appears on Damen’s, but Damen continues pouring nonetheless. Damen doesn’t realize that Laurent already knows that Nicaise is not going to drink more than a sip of the champagne. Even Nicaise, having never tried it before, does not know that he will not like the drink. He’s not a fan of fizzy drinks like sparkling water, so champagne will end up being a disappointment. There’s no risk of Nicaise getting drunk tonight. 

“What about you, Laurent?” Damen needs to stop saying his name. His heart races every time. “Would you like some?”

Laurent takes a second to glance around the room. It’s just Nicaise, Damen, and Nikandros. None of them pose a serious threat to him except for Damen maybe, but that’s his own fault. Damen has already invited them to stay over, but one glass of champagne an hour or so before they leave shouldn’t prevent Laurent from driving home anyway. 

“Sure.”

Both Nicaise and Damen look shocked by this response. Nikandros is indifferent, unaware of how rare it is for Laurent to partake in drinking. Not that Laurent has had an abundance of opportunities to drink around others anyway. Those opportunities are usually limited to company parties where drinking could have much uglier consequences.

Damen finishes pouring the drinks, or filling the drinks rather, and passes them out while Nikandros flips the television on so that they can watch the ball drop in ten minutes. Some musician that Laurent is unfamiliar with is performing, vivid light show behind them. Laurent looks away from the screen when he feels a warm hand against his arm. Damen is holding out a glass of champagne for him, his hand still lightly resting on Laurent’s arm. 

The lights from the television reflect in his deep brown eyes. Laurent stares into them as he takes the glass from his hand. He can hear Nicaise and Nikandros arguing about something in the background, but his attention is entirely taken by the good-looking man in front of him. 

“Are you spending the night?”

“That depends,” Laurent finds himself saying.

“On what?” Instead of replying, Laurent brings the glass to his lips. Before he can take a sip, Damen’s hand is on his own, lowering the glass. “Not yet,” Damen says lowly.

“Oh?”

“Wait till the ball drops.” 

As soon as Damen says this, something clicks in his mind. He removes his hand from Laurent and makes his way to the other side of the room. Laurent watches after him, absolutely baffled, but Nicaise steps into his line of sight and makes a motion with his hand and mouth that references fellatio. 

“Stop,” Laurent says brusquely. “You’re a degenerate.”

“Thank you.”

Damen returns with his arms full of shiny New Year’s novelty items and a gold crown atop his dark curls. Nicaise immediately grabs a pair of glasses with the year on them and an eccentric looking headband. As he places the headband on his head cautiously so as to not disrupt his perfect curls, Nikandros selects a sparkly top hat and a noise maker. All of the hats bring Laurent’s attention to the fact that he is the only one here without dark curly hair.

Laurent is prepared to turn down the accessories, but Damen does not give him the option. A golden crown, similar to the one Damen is wearing, is placed on his head. He cannot look up at him unless he wants the crown to fall off, so he closes his eyes and allows himself to feel each finger that brushes through his hair, the heat that Damen is radiating, and Damen’s presence in general. He only opens his eyes once the man has taken a step back to make sure it is on correctly. His smile shines brighter than the metallic gold of his paper crown. 

“Regality suits you,” Damen notes, eyes sparkling. “You look like a king.”

“More like a disgraced, forgotten scion.”

“Save the flirting for after the countdown,” Nikandros ends the exchange.

Self deprecating remarks can hardly be classified as flirting, but Laurent doesn’t question it. The people on the television have already started the countdown and the ball is sliding down its pole agonizingly slow. Laurent has always thought the actual ball drop was pretty anticlimactic, but everyone else seems to love it. In fact, Damen is pumping his fist in the air and counting down along with the hosts on television. Laurent is far more interested in Damen than the ball drop.

Nikandros and Nicaise are screaming “happy New Year,” but Damen screams “happy birthday” instead. Nicaise rolls his eyes at that but laughs anyway. Laurent can’t look away. His heart feels full watching them interact. And then Damen activates the popper, sending confetti flying all around him. Silver and gold flecks float down between them as their eyes meet, glitter catching on their lashes and hair.

It’s ridiculous that Damen can look so handsome with confetti hanging off of his features, yet here he is, standing right in front of Laurent in all of his masculine beauty. There’s a spark in his eyes that Laurent has never seen before, one that is not from the fireworks on the television.

Damen takes a step forward and raises his glass. Laurent is sure that the confetti will end up in both of their drinks, but he lifts his nonetheless and clinks it against Damen’s glass. He can feel the smile sneak onto his face as he watches Damen wink at him contentedly. Bliss. The moment doesn’t last more than two seconds until Nikandros is slamming his glass into Damen’s and Nicaise is following suit but with Laurent’s glass. With how full Damen filled the glasses, there is sure to be some spillage, but no one seems to mind.

All of them take their sips at about the same time. Laurent pries his eyes off of Damen in order to watch Nicaise’s reaction to the drink. As he suspected, the boy’s face scrunches up in disgust. He looks at Laurent pitifully. Laurent says nothing, only takes the glass from him.

“We should have bought fireworks again this year,” Nikandros proclaims. That idea wipes the wince off of Nicaise’s face.

“Yeah,” Damen agrees, not sounding altogether convinced. “But I really couldn’t be fucked to drive all the way to Pennsylvania.”

“We might be able to see them outside since the trees are bare.”

So they all, aside from Damen who runs to another room but promises to meet them, head outside, ignoring the fact that it’s below freezing. Laurent downs his glass of champagne in hopes that the rush of heat will be enough to make him feel warm for however long they are outside. He brings Nicaise’s glass in case it is not enough, but he knows he really should have brought a jacket instead.

Nikandros was right. As soon as they step out the door, there are visible fireworks from the neighborhood nearest to them. Part of Laurent wonders why people would risk being criminally charged just to watch gunpowder and chemicals explode. A bigger part of Laurent doesn’t care. And then there is a smaller, unrecognizable part of him that completely understands. 

The fireworks are far enough away so as to not be deafening, but close enough to still be visible. Nicaise look entranced by them all. Laurent really needs to get better at taking him to events like this. Damen returns with a box and a utility lighter before Laurent can start blaming himself for holding Nicaise back.

“There were only three sparklers left from the Fourth, but it’s better than nothing.” 

Laurent does not share. Nor does he really care to play with sparklers. He takes a sip of his champagne to show his disinterest, but Damen hands him a sparkler anyway. Someone needs to hold it while Damen lights it, he supposes. He finishes the rest of the drink just in case.

But Damen lights Nikandros’ first and then Nikandros lights Nicaise’s using his own. Then it’s on to Laurent, after a period of Nicaise staring in awe. Once Nicaise comes to his senses and realizes that he only has about a minute, he demands that Damen use his phone to take a photo. Damen agrees, telling Nicaise that he should draw something. The agreed upon artwork is Nikandros writing an “F” and Nicaise writing a “U”. Laurent is proud.

Until Nicaise insists that Laurent and Damen get a picture together, too. Laurent supposes that he’ll share with Damen. Their agreed upon drawing, which is even more important seeing as they only have the one sparkler, is a smiley face. Laurent’s suggestion.

Damen hands the phone back to Nicaise, stands behind Laurent, and holds on to the sparkler. Warmth. Much needed warmth. It’s a bit of a rush since the sparkler is already halfway burnt. They probably have approximately forty five seconds left, but Damen doesn’t seem to mind as he nuzzles his nose into the top of Laurent’s hair.

“Did you shower for this, too?”

“Yes, actually,” Laurent responds, and begins to move the sparkler in a semicircular motion.

“I can tell.”

Laurent ignores the smile he can hear in Damen’s voice and continues to draw with the sparkler. The shape is vague enough; down, partial circle, partial circle, up. Although Damen isn’t even really paying attention to the shape, just allowing his hand to slide down the sparkler until it is eventually on top of Laurent’s. He doesn’t understand that anything is off until Nicaise starts laughing. Nikandros joins in as well after a beat.

This is enough to convince Damen to let go of Laurent’s hand and head over to examine the photos. When he sees that Laurent has tricked him into drawing a penis as opposed to the promised smiley face, he looks back up at Laurent with a deadpan expression. The laugh that erupts from Laurent is so visceral and unexpected that he almost scares himself. 

He should not have finished both of those drinks.

But Damen’s pestered expression cracks as Laurent laughs, and he starts laughing as well. Laurent takes a few deep breaths in order to regain control of his composure. 

“Bro, how the fuck did you not notice?” Nikandros asks Damen as they are heading back inside. 

Laurent can still feel the flush present on his cheeks, an ever present smile just beneath the surface ready to overtake his face at any moment. He has to keep blinking to clear his mind of the fog threatening to creep in and his visual perception feels just a bit slower than it typically is. 

“I wasn’t paying attention. Besides, I trust Laurent.”

“A questionable decision, really,” Laurent says with no real difficulty despite his physical body feeling off.

He manages to find his way to the couch without tripping over any of the obstacles that seem to manifest out of nowhere. Nicaise plops down next to him while Damen and Nikandros take the other sofa. Laurent doesn’t remember this couch being so comfortable. It would be so easy for him to just rest his head on the back and fall asleep.

“Wanna play Mario Kart, Laurent?” 

Laurent opens his eyes and shakes his head. He hadn’t even realized he had closed them. Maybe it was just a long blink. Damen feels so far away. There is a side table between them which really should not be between them. In fact, Damen shouldn’t be on the other couch at all. Unless he’s trying to get distant again like the last time they were together. Laurent still isn’t quite sure what that was all about.

The next time he opens his eyes, a bunch of characters are driving around a beach in go-karts. Laurent assumes that Damen is playing as Princess Peach and that Nikandros is playing as the little green dinosaur as they had in the other game. That leaves Nicaise to play as the spiky turtle creature. He manages to keep himself awake for a full round before he feels his head fall forwards. He jerks it upright and blinks a few times to wake himself up again.

“You should drift around that corner,” he advises Nikandros before his eyelids start to droop again. He thinks he hears Nikandros thank him, but then he is waking up. He sees Damen leaning over with his elbows on his knees as he stares intently at the screen. This game doesn’t seem that hard. The same course is played several times over before it moves on, allowing anyone to familiarize themselves with the route. “There’s a double mystery box coming up.”

Nicaise is tapping on his shoulder the next time he wakes up. 

“Damen and Nikandros went to bed. They said they’re getting too old to stay up this late, but Damen showed me our rooms.”

Laurent sits up and runs his fingers through his hair. It’s tangled from dozing on the couch. That’s what he gets. He knows he could have forced himself to stay awake, but for once, he didn’t feel the overwhelming jittery sensation that he always feels when he’s around other people. Laurent’s not sure what that means for him.

“We’re staying the night, then?”

“Obviously,” Nicaise replies with far too much snark than is needed to answer a simple question. “You’re too drunk to drive home.”

“There is a distinct difference between drunk and tipsy, but that’s beside the point. I’m fine now.”

It’s true. He’s not certain exactly how long he was asleep, but he knows the effects of the champagne have worn off now. His blinks are the appropriate length again, and he does not feel seconds away from grinning. That was truly an atrocious feeling.

“Fine. I want to spend the night,” Nicaise changes his approach. 

That’s a convincing enough reason for Laurent who is not fond of the idea of driving home at this late hour anyway. The roads should be fairly clear, but his nap did not ward off all of the tiredness from his body. So he follows Nicaise upstairs and down a hallway. The guest bedrooms are right next to each other which is convenient. Nicaise probably wouldn’t be able to remember how to get to both rooms if they were on opposite sides of the house.

They wish each other goodnight, and Nicaise disappears into one of the rooms. Laurent decides to make for the kitchen that they passed to get a glass of water. This time, the kitchen is not unoccupied.

“Damen?”

“Laurent… You’re up.”

Damen is leaning against the kitchen counter with a glass of water in his hands. Great minds clearly think alike. Laurent approaches him but leaves a foot or so of distance between them. He gets just close enough to be able to use the light from the moon and the fireworks to really see his face. Damen has changed into grey sweatpants and a thin white shirt which, as is customary of nearly all of his shirts, is tighter than is necessary. It’s distracting to say the least, yet Laurent’s eyes are glued to Damen’s face.

“Alcohol’s a depressant, and I don’t drink often,” Laurent explains.

“Don’t worry. The bubbles always go straight to my head, too.” 

His smile lights up the kitchen more than the lights from the window do. Damen’s smiles are always bright, but tonight they have been especially so. His entire presence has seemed more at ease tonight. The break-up has done him well.

He hands Laurent the glass of water, correctly assuming that was the reason he came into the kitchen. Laurent takes it and watches Damen become more and more pensive as he drinks. He is good-looking when he’s thinking. He’s good looking when he’s acting without thinking as well. Damen is attractive, and now that he's no longer tied down, he’s even more attractive. His heart pounds at that thought.

“Jokaste and I broke up…” Damen says, seemingly reading Laurent’s mind. He’s still staring at the counter in contemplation.

“Jord told me.” This statement causes Damen to look back up, eyebrows furrowed. Laurent would say that he’s sorry about their breakup, but he’s not feeling very inclined to lie. Instead he says, “I know you really liked her.”

“Less so lately…”

Laurent feels very exposed solely from Damen’s gaze. He sets the glass down on the counter. It produces more noise than anything else in the area. Fireworks are still exploding in the distance, but the window muffles most of the sound. After the sound from the glass has subsided, Laurent can practically hear their hearts beating.

“I hope you didn’t think I was ignoring you these past two weeks. It’s just been…”

“I know,” Laurent says quietly.

“Do you… want to head to my room to talk? I actually have something for you.”

Damen looks uncomfortable as he says this, shifting his weight from one leg to the other. One moment he is leaning against the counter, and the next he is on his feet, looking ready to go at a moment’s notice. Their eye contact is brief. Damen keeps breaking it, glancing around only to return it seconds later. Damen is not uncomfortable, Laurent realizes; he’s nervous. The question is why. 

“Okay.”

They leave the glass on the counter as they walk out of the kitchen. Laurent follows Damen to his room as he has never been there before. It’s different than he expected although he’s not sure what he expected in the first place. Plain white sheets, grey walls, and one red accent pillow. The bedside table only holds his phone and wallet. Other than that, the room is fairly empty. 

After motioning for Laurent to sit down wherever he would like, Damen pulls an apparel box off of the top of his dresser. Laurent had not decided on a place to sit, but Damen pats the space on the bed beside him.

“I didn’t get the chance to wrap it, but merry belated Christmas,” Damen says when Laurent sits next to him.

“God, if this is the outfit your girlfriend picked out for me…”

“Ex-girlfriend,” Damen corrects. “Just open it.”

Laurent does as he is instructed, lifting the lid to reveal deep blue fabric. Laurent doesn’t need to pull it out to know what it is. He simply runs his hand over the soft cashmere and closes his eyes. Memories of Damen offering him his sweater the first evening they spent time together flood his mind. He’s reminded of how comfortable Damen’s presence made him, still makes him. He remembers the compliments that Damen had given with no objectives, the help he had offered with no ulterior motives.

“I actually have something for you as well.”

He had intended to print it out, to make the reveal more dramatic and make it easier to give to Damen. It would have also provided another copy in case someone got a hold of his email, but he can do that later. For now, he pulls up the email he received from Vannes that details the evidence she had found of Kastor embezzling funds from Akielon Industries. He has no evidence as to where the funds were going, the receiving end covered their tracks more thoroughly, but he has a strong suspicion. 

Damen takes the phone from him and reads the email. “Laurent…” He skims the email for what appears to be a second time, visible disbelief on his face. “This is…” A third time after he glances up at Laurent momentarily. Then he lets his hands and the phone fall to his lap. “I got you a sweater.”

“You’ve done far more than that, and you know it.” This time it is Laurent’s turn to avoid eye contact. He’s unaccustomed to people in his life acting so grateful, especially when he is merely returning a favor.

“I don’t even know what to say.”

“You don’t have to say anything,” is Laurent’s answer. “Show it to your father. I’m certain this will secure your spot as heir to Akielon Industries.”

He meant what he said those two long weeks ago. As soon as Vannes had secured her spot as a board member, Laurent knew that he could count on her to dig up dirt. Truth be told, he knew as soon as he came to her with the proposition after Damen had agreed to take Nicaise to therapy.

“Can I give you a hug?” 

“Unnecessary,” Laurent says and curses the blush he can feel rising to his face.

Damen laughs soundlessly, shaking his head like he’s still incredulous. Laurent supposes that it is a lot to take in, but it shouldn’t be that shocking. He hadn’t necessarily been keeping it a secret, and he hadn’t told Vannes to keep it a secret either. Her showing up at his board meetings should have been enough of a clue. Damen doesn’t seem to take clues or hints very well. He is far too trusting of those in his inner circle. At least he learned the dangers for himself.

When Laurent finally looks up at Damen, he has his head resting on his hand, still staring down at Laurent’s phone. He looks less dumbfounded and more disappointed. Kastor is still his brother. This news most likely changes a lot of his previously held opinions on the man.

“Jokaste was fucking Kastor.” Or perhaps it is more corroborating than anything.

“I heard…” Laurent is unpracticed when it comes to comfort. “If you want to kill her, I have some plots ready.”

Damen laughs. “Wow, already? We  _ just _ broke up!” 

“Who said I just started?”

Another laugh. His laugh is gorgeous, heartening, warm. Laurent can’t get enough. “Oh my god, you’re homicidal.” Laurent isn’t sure why he feels like smiling. “It’s even scarier because I know you could get away with it, too.” This actually does cause Laurent to smile. 

It’s a smile that drops with the surprise of Damen resting his head on Laurent’s shoulder. It can’t be a comfortable position, but Damen makes no complaints. His hair tickles Laurent’s neck, the side of his body that is touching Laurent warms him. They stay like that for a few minutes. Laurent wants to rest his own head on top of Damen’s, but he’s not willing to torture himself that much.

“You know, if you hated Jokaste that much, you should have told me. Might have saved me some heartbreak.”

Laurent takes a beat to think over his words before he says, “I never hated Jokaste.”

“She hated you,” Damen replies, lightly pensive as he lifts his head in order to view Laurent. “She knew that you saw right through her from day one. I think she was also jealous of you. You’re so smart and kind. More than you even know. Being with you made her flaws more evident. I don’t know how I didn’t see it until now…”

Laurent does not consider himself to be a very impulsive person. He prefers to hold off on his actions until he is able to think things through. He has made far too many mistakes, regrets far too many of his past actions, to act impulsively. Even hitting Aimeric was not an impulsive decision. He weighed the pros and cons beforehand and decided that he would deal with the consequences.

Kissing Damen is by all means an impulsive movement. His body seems to move towards Damen of its own accord, his hands instinctively cup his face, his lips have a mind of their own. Kissing Damen is an impulsive decision, but he can’t bring himself to regret the feeling of their lips sliding together, Damen’s muffled sound of shock, the tension between them that finally feels as if it has found some resolve. He can’t regret the roughness of Damen’s growing beard against his hand nor the soft curls at the base of Damen’s neck that graze the tips of Laurent’s fingers. He can’t regret kissing Damen.

Until Laurent pulls back and stares at the wall because he has just done the inexcusable.

The only reason the moment is not awkward is because Laurent’s mind is running at a million miles an hour. Any uncomfortable silence is drowned out by his internal dialogue. He doesn’t even hear Damen say his name, the first or the second time. His mind is racing, his head is pounding, his hands are shaking. He can’t feel his own body. He can’t feel anything. Until those same lips are on his again, silencing every thought in his brain that isn’t  _ kiss back _ .

One of Damen’s hands cups his face while the other holds his waist. It feels like a stabilizing hand, a hand that assures Laurent that this is not a dream and that he does not need to run away. He can stay here with Damen, wrapping his arms around the man’s neck to bring them closer. He can kiss Damen without fear of the repercussions. 

Actually kissing Damen is unlike anything he had imagined. Damen does not try to control the kiss. He pays attention to how Laurent is kissing and responding and goes off of that. He’s an attentive kisser. He’s a good kisser. Laurent feels like he could melt underneath Damen’s lips and hands and body heat.

“We can’t do this,” Laurent whispers, summoning all of his strength to pull their lips apart. Damen looks concerned, his eyes scan Laurent’s face. “I know I don’t deserve you, but-” 

Damen shakes his head at that and shuts him up with another kiss. It feels impossible that Laurent could muster up the strength to end the kiss again. His entire body along with his heart want to fall onto the bed and continue kissing until the sun comes up. His mind is the only part of him that has something to say about that. He hates his brain right now. He hates that he can never seem to escape his own thoughts even when he is unable to think at all, like now as he is being held so firmly.

“I never hated Jokaste,” Laurent murmurs against Damen’s lips. Damen moves back just enough to allow Laurent to collect his thoughts, but does not remove his hands from Laurent’s shoulder and hip. “I never hated Jokaste. I wanted to be her. I was envious of everything about her. You loved her so much even though she was using you. I know that no one will ever love me that much, that blindly…”

“Nobody needs to love you blindly, Laurent. I would never want to love you blindly. You have so much about you that deserves to be seen. I want to love you with my eyes wide open.”

Laurent is surely already flushed from their earlier embrace, but his cheeks heat up even more at that. Despite how hot his face feels, Laurent says, “that’s saccharine.”

“Maybe,” Damen smiles, a breath of laughter escaping through his nose. “But it’s how I feel.”

A pause. “You think you could fall in love with me?”

No pause. “I know I could.”

“Why?” 

It’s the question that Laurent has been wanting to ask ever since Damen first started spending time with him and Nicaise. The one word carries so much weight, so much intensity. There are a million questions within the one. A million questions that Laurent isn’t sure he is ready to have answered yet.

“I am… regrettably, half in love with you, Damianos,” he confesses before Damen can respond. He’s wearing his heart on his shoulder in a way that would usually terrify him, but Damen has a comforting presence like Laurent has never known. “I can’t just be your rebound.”

“Laurent, that’s not-” Damen stops himself, removing the hand that was on Laurent’s shoulder in order to scoop up his hands. “You’re not just a rebound. If you don’t want to go out because you’re worried that I’m just transferring my emotions from her onto you, I understand and I’m fine with that. If you don’t want to go out because you think that you don’t deserve me then that’s absurd. I’m sorry, but that’s irrational. You deserve everything and more. I- I want to help you see that...” 

His hand comes up to Laurent’s cheek. Laurent, in spite of everything he has just said about how they should not be together, is touch starved and desperate for Damen. He cants into the touch unthinkingly, his eyes closing on their own. 

“Either way, I’m not going to stop asking you out until you tell me to stop.”

Laurent’s fingers wrap around Damen’s wrist, preventing him from removing his hand from Laurent’s skin. He can feel how fast Damen’s heart is beating through his pulse. Or maybe it’s his own pulse throbbing through his thumb. Whosever it is, it is pounding wildly, exposing the stress or excitement they are experiencing. If this is not enough, when Laurent opens his eyes again, Damen’s pupils are massive. They turn his beautiful brown eyes black.

“You say that, but I don’t believe you’ve asked me out at all.”

Damen smiles and leans in. “Laurent deVere, will you go out with me?”

“Damianos touAkielos, no, I will not not.” This stops Damen in his tracks. His jaw drops. “But you should ask again another time if you feel so inclined.”

Instead of going in for the kiss as he had been about to do, Damen wraps his arms around Laurent and uses his weight to take them both to the bed. Laurent wouldn’t have been able to counter the movement even if he had tried. Damen is probably over two hundred pounds of pure muscle mass. Laurent is not. It’s astounding that such a giant force can be so gentle and approachable.

His dark hair and skin contrasts against the white of the sheets. In an alternate dimension, Laurent might have taken this time to tell Damen that he was only joking and that their first date should be as soon as possible. In this dimension, Laurent reaches over and pokes his dimple with a soft smile. Damen grabs his hand and presses a kiss into his wrist. 

“Are you staying here for the night?”

“Yes,” answers Laurent.

“I mean…  _ here _ . With me.”

Laurent represses every urge he has to smile, lean forwards, and kiss Damen’s perfectly plump lips. He’s still in disbelief that if he were to do so, Damen would actually kiss back. Damen has actually kissed back, several times now. He spent so many long weeks imagining what it would be like, now that it is actually happening, it feels like a dream. 

“Yes.”


	9. Chapter Nine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is officially 50,000 words which feels ridiculous to me as someone who hasn't written fan fiction in 3 years. Part of this chapter has some pretty shitty writing, but there's some shirtless Damen to make up for it... Heads up, idk how to write kissing bro i'm sorry

Waking up to see Laurent lying in his bed is a scene that Damen had imagined many times in the days that followed his breakup with Jokaste. Now that the day has finally come, he can officially say that it has exceeded his expectations. Laurent, with his golden hair acting as a halo and his pale skin that practically blends into the white sheets in comparison to Damen’s, looks like he should be gracing the walls of an art museum. 

But he’s not. He’s in Damen’s bed for Damen’s eyes only. Damen’s eyes have been enjoying the sight of him for the past few minutes now. He’s never been one to stare at his lovers in the morning after, but Laurent calls for a different procedure. He never truly appreciated Laurent’s pulchritude for what it was, so he has a lot of time to make up for. His morning workout can wait a few extra minutes… or hours… or days even, so long as Damen can admire this beauty in his bed.

A text from Nikandros informs Damen that this will not be possible. He’s glad that he put his phone on silent. Nikandros telling him to hurry up so they can work out together is not worthy of waking Laurent up. He slides out of bed as quietly as possible, desperately trying not to disturb Laurent.

Damen gets as far as changing into workout shorts and taking off the shirt he had slept in before Laurent begins to stir. 

“Damen?” Striking blue eyes meet his own. “Where are you going?”

With his athletic shirt still in hand, Damen walks up to the bed. Laurent pushes himself up onto his arm, giving Damen flashbacks to the first time he had ever observed Laurent waking. The difference is that back then he had been in a rush to give Laurent his personal space, but now he wants nothing more than to intrude on this personal space. 

“I was hoping I wouldn’t wake you,” Damen responds before leaning down.

Instead of pressing his lips to Damen’s, Laurent meets Damen’s lips with his finger, effectively ending Damen’s plans of a good morning kiss. What a tease. “I’m a light sleeper. My question stands.”

“I’m just going downstairs to workout. I made Nik sleep in the basement, so I probably shouldn’t keep him waiting.”

Laurent’s brows furrow. “My Nic or your Nik?”

Damen almost laughs at the idea of him kicking Nicaise to the basement. “My Nik obviously. You think I’d force a sixteen year old to sleep downstairs all alone?”

The small smile that appears on Laurent’s face nearly brings Damen to his knees. He’s not sure how he went so long without having Laurent in his life. He can’t comprehend how he did not immediately recognize his feelings for Laurent and break up with Jokaste as soon as they spoke for the first time.

“Seventeen now,” Laurent corrects. “What time is it?”

Not yet five in the morning. “Early enough for me to come back to bed after I work out.” 

Damen doesn’t miss the way Laurent’s gaze fleetingly drops to his bare chest. It’s almost mistakable for a blink. Almost. But then his gaze returns as though Laurent has realized that he is allowed to ogle. Laurent reaches out, brushing his fingers against Damen’s abdomen. He watches his fingers glide down the skin before his touch becomes more firm and he pushes Damen away.

“Then you should get going.”

Damen stumbles backwards in surprise. The grin on his face feels so natural as he walks towards the door without taking his eyes off of Laurent. Leaving Laurent alone in his bed is pure agony, but Laurent is right. The sooner he leaves, the sooner he can come back and enjoy their morning together. Peacefully kissing to the sound of birds declaring it morning, sleepily running their fingers through each other’s hair, carefully caressing skin so supple that Damen can’t resist touching his lips to it as well. 

Or at least that’s how Damen expects to spend the morning after his workout. The reality is not that. 

The entire workout, Damen is buzzing, desperately trying to contain the urge to tell Nikandros about his night. Not long into the first set, Nikandros asks him point-blank if he and Laurent had sex. That’s fine. It allows Damen to enthuse about how Laurent had kissed him and how they had spent the entire night wrapped in each other’s arms talking about their lives. Nikandros still doesn’t believe that they were not physically intimate. That’s also fine.

What isn’t fine is the fact that Laurent is already out of bed by the time Damen gets done. He and Nikandros are about to open the basement door when he hears Laurent’s voice. The sound makes his entire body freeze, throwing an arm out to stop Nik as well.

“You’re up early.”

“So are you. Did you get some dick last night?” Nicaise’s voice asks, always so impudent. 

Laurent’s voice responds, clear as the sound of bells, “Nicaise, you’re profane.”

“That’s not a ‘no’.”

“No,” Laurent restates, his tone leaving no room for objections. “He just broke up with his girlfriend.” 

Damen turns to give Nikandros one of the most undeniable ‘I told you so’ faces that he has ever given. Nikandros looks unfazed. Much like Nicaise is unfazed by Laurent’s take-no-shit tone of voice. Nicaise has much more experience with Laurent, but that one word would have stopped Damen in his tracks.

“Exactly! Perfect timing!”

“How did you know we were together last night?”

Nicaise’s scoff is audible through the door. “Please. You think I didn’t check your room in the middle of the night? I thought you knew me.”

“That sounds like a poor choice if you thought we were having intercourse.”

The moment of silence that follows that statement is enough of an invitation for Damen to make his presence known. He opens the door to see Nicaise lounging on a chair while Laurent stares at him with his arms crossed. It’s such a casual position for Nicaise to take while taunting Laurent that Damen is almost surprised, but it’s Nicaise. He’s more surprised that while Nicaise jumps at the sound of the door opening, Laurent doesn’t even turn his head to address them.

“How did you two sleep?” Damen greets them awkwardly. Laurent does not take his eyes off of Nicaise.

“I think you know exactly how Laurent slept.” Nicaise is such a little shitster. Damen really enjoys his presence when he is not preventing him from cuddling with Laurent. 

Laurent’s gaze swings to Damen. The blinding blue of his eyes silences him. Not that Damen had a decent response to Nicaise’s factual allegations in the first place.

“You’re right, Nicaise, but if you want to get out of here anytime soon, I suggest you start making a breakfast that smells enticing enough to lure us out of Damen’s room.” Then Laurent acknowledges Nikandros’ presence without so much as a blink. “Good morning, Nikandros.”

“Morning.”

Damen, smile completely taking over his face, only waves at Nikandros and follows Laurent back to his room. Knowing Laurent, it’s all talk. They’re going to close the door, sit down and literally talk until Nicaise is finally bored enough to make them food so they can go home.

They talked so much last night. They talked about Jokaste and how their breakup had affected him. (Hard. Damen had spent that night in his room alone wondering why two of the people he was closest with could betray him in that way. He spent the following day going through his house and tearing down any photos with either of them in it. Coming to the conclusion that he was not to blame for their actions took about two days but once that happened, he told his friends the news and invited Nik over.)

They talked about Kastor and how much Damen is not looking forward to dealing with him now. (Seeing him at Christmas was awkward enough, and he didn’t even know that he was sleeping with Jokaste. He doesn’t know how he’s going to break all of the news to his father who mentions marriage every time he sees Damen.)

They even talked about Laurent’s uncle and why Laurent had been living with him for the past three years. (Due to an inability both psychologically and financially to move out, as well as a devotion to Nicaise and unwillingness to leave without him. Laurent’s responses were minimal and that conversation ended extremely quickly in comparison to the conversations about Damen’s life. Damen didn’t mention what he had learned through his confrontation with Mr. deVere in fear of Laurent fleeing.)

They talked until they couldn’t keep their eyes open anymore, until Damen couldn’t feel his arm but didn’t dare move out from under Laurent. They talked until neither of them even knew what they were talking about anymore and could only laugh brainlessly as they stared into each other’s eyes. Damen is hesitant to use the word love, especially after what happened with Jokaste, but he can see something flowering in the distance.

And that’s exactly what they do when they head back to his room now. Laurent starts talking about strategies Damen can employ in order to reverse the damage his brother has done to Akielon Industries. He talks about ways Damen can best show the documentation Vannes provided to his father without so much as mentioning Laurent’s name. He talks until Damen is standing in front of him in just his boxers. Then he’s suddenly silent, face going red as he looks up at Damen.

“Laurent,” Damen says. “I’m going to take a shower. You’re welcome to join me so long as we can hold off on your administrative dissertation.”

Laurent sighs with a smile and hides his face in his hand. “I’ll drop the business talk, but I’m also going to decline your… very generous offer. Mind you, I still have not accepted your proposal.”

That’s true. And the more Damen thinks about it, the more he understands Laurent’s predicament. He and Jokaste were together for around four long years, and he only broke up with her just under a week ago. Last night he had been so caught up in the high of being with Laurent, that he hadn’t even considered his very recent past relationship. Admittedly, Damen is still distraught over their breakup. But he’s now had a taste of Laurent, and he would be derelict if he did not try his hand at wooing him. 

“Am I allowed to keep trying?”

“I suppose,” Laurent answers and then averts his eyes. “Now please take your… obscene self into the bathroom.” 

The smile that takes over Damen’s face is not intentionally arrogant, but Laurent rolls his eyes nonetheless. Damen walks into the bathroom instead of facing the many snarky remarks that Laurent is undoubtedly ready to throw his way. He has closed the door halfway when he decides to peek back at Laurent.

“If you change your mind, my offer still stands.” Damen winks. “I’d love some company.”

Laurent doesn’t even rebuff him. He simply takes the throw pillow from the bed and sends it hurling at Damen’s head. Damen cackles as he closes the door. The sound of the pillow hitting the door proves that Laurent’s aim is spot on. All Damen can think about is the flushed look on Laurent’s face as he looked up at Damen and his abashed expression as he chucked the pillow. He wants to see that face forever.

^^^^^

Laurent can’t believe that Jord agreed to this. It was a shot in the dark for Laurent to invite him, and there is no guarantee that his presence will provide the effect that Laurent is hoping to get. At least his attendance will quell any animosity that could potentially arise during this meeting.

Jord is astonishing in that he did not require any additional information before agreeing to meet Laurent. Laurent asked Jord to meet him and an unspecified friend at a restaurant, and Jord barely blinked an eye. Which is great for Laurent seeing as he does not want to provide Jord with any of the details. That’s one of the reasons he did not invite Damen to this. One of the reasons. The most significant reason is that Damen has been incredibly busy with Akielon Industries.

“Thank you for meeting me here, Jord,” Laurent greets as Jord sits beside him as directed. 

“Yeah, of course. Although… I thought you and Damen were…”

“Right,” Laurent acknowledges awkwardly. That explains why Jord hadn’t asked any questions. “Well, that’s actually not why I’ve asked you here. I need a calming presence. A mediator of sorts.”

“Damen was busy?”

“Damen is parti pris in this particular matter…”

Jord narrows his eyes. “Well, what is ‘this particular matter’?”

Laurent grimaces. This is the conversation he thought he avoided when Jord assented to this meeting so quickly. Evidently it was obtuse of him to believe that anyone, even kindly Jord, would be willing to do him a favor without any background information. Then again, Damen had done so many favors for Laurent without asking for details.

“Let’s just hope you don’t have to find out.”

As if he has been summoned, the second party walks through the door. His eyes shift around the restaurant, searching for something he doesn’t find. When he makes eye contact with Laurent, he does not immediately come forward to meet them. Jord is still asking Laurent about something that Laurent does not bother devoting his attention to. Simply tries to convey his tranquility from across the restaurant. No malice on his face, only understanding. Damen’s suggestion.

Jord is actually the one who manages to get the ball rolling. He gets frustrated with the lack of response from Laurent and searches for whoever has caught Laurent’s attention. When Jord finds who that is, Laurent might as well not even be here. The reason he comes over might be because, while staring at Jord, he has forgotten that Laurent is even here.

“This is Aimeric,” Laurent introduces once Aimeric has walked up to them and sat opposite Jord. “We both… He is currently in a position that I have previously held.”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Jord, Laurent’s friend.” Friend. 

“Aimeric, Laurent’s… acquaintance."

“Well, I understand why you two are meeting, but I'm not really sure why I’m here,” Jord explains. Neither of them have even glanced over at Laurent. Laurent is not used to being the center of attention by any means. He is accustomed to being ignored, but never completely frozen out. He feels more like he is third wheeling now than he had when he was actually third wheeling Damen and Jokaste. Jord continues speaking to Aimeric as he says, “I have no connection to Cuire.”

Aimeric fixes his attention on Laurent, eyes narrow. Laurent would prefer being frozen out. “Care to enlighten him? Or do you prefer to let your men go in blind?” Laurent’s eyes go similarly slim. 

This is what Aimeric does. He ignores all rational thought and attempts to pick a fight over something that Laurent has no interest in by dredging up topics that are none of his business. His proximity to Uncle gives him access to far too much information, but that’s why he is here. Yet the frustration must still show on Laurent’s face, for Jord rests a hand on his shoulder. Laurent can’t stop his flinch in time, but the touch brings him back to reality and rationality.

“I won’t apologize for what I said,” Laurent says slowly. “But I will acknowledge that hitting you may have been… imprudent.”

“The entire side of my face swelled up! Everyone at the party was staring at me!”

“The repercussion of your own inadvisable choice in words.” Laurent takes a deep breath and remembers his intentions. “You’re on the wrong side of history, Aimeric. I’m here to provide you with the opportunity to rectify that.”

“No,” Aimeric contests obstinately. “You’re here to clear your conscience.”

“I thought we had already made it abundantly apparent that my conscience is already clear. You are free to reject my offer, but I would advise you to at least hear me out.”

Aimeric purses his lips and glances around the restaurant. “And if Mr. deVere finds out about this meeting?”

Laurent smiles grimly. Uncle has kept him on a tight leash ever since he undermined his authority by getting Damen promoted. He has prohibited anyone from the company from having communication with him, claiming he has been disclosing sensitive information with other businesses. Laurent had bided his time while Uncle thought he was too tired to make any plays against him, while Laurent  _ was _ too tired to make any plays against him, but that time is over now. 

“Oh, he will. I have absolutely nothing to lose anymore. You made your bed the moment you agreed to meet me. Are you going to cower and lay in it, or are you going to fight?”

The expression on Aimeric’s face is indecisive. He looks between Laurent and Jord, his gaze finally stopping on Laurent. Laurent bites back every instinct he has to yell at Aimeric, to tell him to pull his head out of his ass before he gets shit on his hair. He sees that Aimeric is still seconds away from fleeing. Jord’s presence was enough to convince Aimeric to approach, but it is not enough to influence Aimeric more than that. Laurent must do the rest.

“I know you’ll fight, Aimeric,” he says, doing his best to convey the honesty in his voice. “You wouldn’t be here if you didn't have your suspicions.”

Damen had used similar language before they hung out with Damen’s friends. It worked on Laurent, and as much as Laurent is reluctant to admit it, he sees some of his own qualities in Aimeric. If things had been a little different for Laurent, he could see himself in Aimeric’s position. They’re two sides of the same coin.

Aimeric purses his lips and for the first time, Laurent truly sees him for who he is. A young adult who has found himself wrapped up in something he does not understand and does not know how to escape. He’s different from Nicaise and Laurent in that he had more of a choice in the matter to begin with, but more of a choice doesn’t mean much in this context. These next few moments are his crucial opportunity to make the right decision.

“What’s your offer?”

^^^^^

This month of ‘not dating’ Laurent has been one of the best months of Damen’s life. He has still been taking Nicaise driving in the boy’s new car, especially now that Laurent has started back at college, but life is busy for all of them. Damen has been adjusting to his new role as CEO of Akielon Industries. It’s not a huge change of responsibilities, particularly because his father had been slowly allocating some of his roles to Damen over the years. 

The main challenge was dealing with the ramifications of Kastor’s treachery. The vice president of a corporation embezzling company funds is not great for business. Damen spent days in meetings trying to figure out ways to redress the theft without making a big deal out of it. Laurent helped. A lot.

Laurent has been nothing but full of astute ideas these past few weeks. His uncle freezing him out of all information pertaining to Cuire seemed to give him the motivation needed in order to relight his desire to own Cuire. With all the help Laurent has given him in regards to Akielon Industries, Damen practically begged Laurent to let him help with Cuire. Vannes being on the board of directors of both companies makes this rather easy. While she might not be allowed to share information with Laurent, she has not been forbade from sharing information with Damen.

Which is why Damen comes over after work so often, under the guise of taking Nicaise driving. And why Laurent now has Jokaste’s key to Damen’s house. Perhaps their businesses aren’t the only reason they have been spending so much time together lately. 

“Hey, babe.” 

Laurent is sitting, legs crossed, on his bed with his laptop open and various papers spread around him. He has his reading glasses on and half of his hair pulled into a ponytail. He looks every bit like an academic. When he looks up at Damen, Damen can feel a pulse of electricity run through him. Laurent is staring at him flatly.

“We’re not dating.”

“Not yet,” Damen grins and hops on the bed beside Laurent. Laurent rolls his eyes and collects the stray papers so that Damen has more room. “Would you prefer ‘hello, lover’?”

“We’re not lovers.”

“Not in the physical sense,” Damen gloats. Abstinence isn’t something he typically gloats over, but the implication of he and Laurent being lovers in the emotional sense is exhilarating. “And once again, not yet.”

Laurent snorts and continues typing something on his computer. Damen closes his eyes, listens to the sound of Laurent’s fingers hitting the keyboard, and allows himself to be present with Laurent after his long day at work. It’s nice being with Laurent even when they aren’t doing anything. It’s nice being with Laurent when they’re just talking. It’s nice being with Laurent when they’re making out. Grated, the latter of those hasn’t happened often. Still, it’s just nice being with Laurent.

Damen opens his eyes. Laurent is staring at his screen intently, biting the inside of his bottom lip. Damen wants to be the one biting his lip, but Laurent still has not agreed to go out with him. Not for lack of trying on Damen’s part.

“Aimeric still has yet to respond to my proposition,” Laurent mentions casually. His eyes stay fixed on the computer.

“You don’t need Aimeric,” is Damen’s response. It’s not unfounded. “I wish you could have helped him, but that was his decision. Your uncle laid him off earlier this week.”

His fingers hover over the keyboard, his lips press together the way they do whenever he’s upset or conflicted or in thought. Aimeric has always been a complicated subject. He manages to arouse an assortment of negative feelings in Laurent. Sometimes it brings about truthful statements and memories that Laurent has not previously felt comfortable sharing with Damen. Most of the time it produces conversations about Nicaise. Damen doesn’t see the connection there, but he hasn’t found it in him to ask.

“He was always going to dispose of him. It’s a wonder it took this long.” 

Laurent is still staring at his computer, but at this point, it’s obvious that he’s not actually reading anything. Damen scoops up his hand and rubs his thumb back and forth over the pale skin. All signs of bruising have vanished. Laurent looks down at him somberly. Damen knows this expression. When Laurent speaks, his voice is quiet.

“Eyes wide open?”

Damen nods. His thumb pauses on Laurent’s hand, but he continues the movements when he notices that Laurent is still hesitant to continue. “Of course. Always.”

“It wasn’t just when I was thirteen which you already know.” 

Damen freezes again. He hadn’t known that Laurent knew that he knew. “Laurent, I-” A lack of communication on Damen’s side that sprouted from good intentions. He should have talked to Laurent immediately after that heated discussion, but he didn’t want to make Laurent uncomfortable. Had Mr. deVere told him? He was the only one present for the argument. Unless… 

“After my father passed, I really felt like I had no one except for my uncle. That’s why Nicaise and I didn’t get along at first. Uncle is good at that. He’s good at creating adversaries in order to avoid rivals of his own. It worked with Aimeric, and it almost worked with Nicaise. I hate that. I hate that he ever had that kind of power over me. 

“I’ll never be able to reverse everything he has done, but I thought if I could just… I thought maybe Aimeric would give me the chance to fight back in a way that actually matters.” 

Laurent is no longer looking at Damen. He’s no longer looking at anything. He doesn’t look close to tears, but his eyes are closed. Without opening them, Laurent reaches out and closes his laptop, sliding it to the side of the bed that Damen is not occupying. Damen isn’t sure if this is an indication that he should come closer or not.

“He and Jord exchanged numbers, but nothing has come of that yet either. I… I thought I had a decent shot with him on my side. I mean, you inspired the idea in the first place when you brought up the fact that he’s close to my uncle… was close to my uncle.”

“I swore to you that I would help you take him down, and I meant it,” Damen promises, pulling Laurent closer. “Nothing he has said has changed how I feel about you. There is nothing he could ever say that would. We don’t need Aimeric so long as Vannes still works for both of our companies.”

“If my uncle could fire her, he would have done so as soon as he stole Cuire. He’s just waiting for her to misstep so that he can convince everyone else on the board that she’s unfit,” Laurent explains. His tone is distant, but he uses his finger to draw patterns on the arm that Damen has slung around his waist. “He did the same thing to me.”

It had seemed so easy for Laurent to secure Damen’s position as CEO. He thought that Laurent just needed an extra push in order to win his own company back. Now it is evident that this is not the case. 

Laurent is, without a doubt, the smartest person that Damen has ever met. He’s astute with a great mind for business, but underneath his cold exterior, Laurent is kind. He cares for others far more than he lets on. Damen feels fortunate to be able to witness his private sweetness firsthand. He is exactly the kind of person who should be in charge of a business like Cuire. 

“We’re going to ruin him. Mr. deVere will never touch Cuire again.” ‘Or you,’ are the unspoken words that follow.

When Laurent looks at him, Damen’s heart almost rips apart. “ _ I’m Mr. deVere, too _ .”

And fuck. Damen had not even thought about that. There is definitely an air of ambiguity to using the term ‘Mr. deVere’ that Damen hadn’t thought about. Although he should have, considering he knew the Mr. deVere before.

“So were my father and Auguste,” Laurent resumes. “I hate that he gets to run around and taint our family name.”

Damen tightens his grasp on Laurent so that it’s closer to a hug than regular cuddling. He presses his face into the side of Laurent and breathes in the scent of him. Despite everything they have talked about, it’s relaxing to be able to have Laurent around after work. Talking about Mr. deVere- talking about Laurent’s uncle is excruciating, but as bad as it is for Damen, he can’t imagine how it is for Laurent.

There are still things that Damen knows Laurent hasn’t told him, but most of those are things that Damen does not need to know. Laurent will tell him anything he should know eventually. He has faith in that. He has faith in Laurent. Although there is one thing regarding that unbearable topic that Laurent has mentioned but never elucidated. He doesn’t expect delineation when it comes to this subject, but he’d like to not be left in the dark. 

“Did Nicaise- you uncle-?”

Laurent shifts so that he’s laying down facing Damen. “You didn’t know?” 

“I was never sure,” Damen states as he pulls his face out of Laurent’s shirt. “You never stated it outright, so I didn’t want to believe it.” 

“Uncle adopted him right after… Auguste and father cut off all contact with Uncle after… He was adopted to replace me.”

The silence that fills the room is only broken by the sound of Laurent sliding down the bed in order to be at Damen’s level. This position allows them to look at each other without straining their necks. Especially since Damen is not used to looking up at Laurent, or anyone for that matter. 

“You know, when I first met him, Nicaise told me that you saved him.” Laurent scoffs and turns so that he’s looking up at the ceiling. Damen’s arm around him prevents him from moving away. “Why is that so hard for you to believe?”

Only his head turns this time. “I might have technically saved him, but it took me far too long. I was seventeen when I came to live here. He was just a kid.” Laurent lets out a dark laugh. “I fought with a kid over-” His hand gestures towards nothing in particular, but the meaning is understood. 

Damen contemplates his next words before asking, “have you talked to Dr. Paschal about it?”

“Yes.” An immediate response that Damen doesn’t buy for a second. That must show on his face. “No.  _ Drop it _ .”

It’s not his place to force anything out of Laurent, so Damen forces his lips together and nods. Laurent pulls his computer back onto his lap and continues working on whatever he had been typing when Damen first came in. 

The heat from where the bottom of Laurent’s computer is resting on Damen’s arm, having not moved it, is surprisingly comforting. He almost feels like he could fall asleep in this exact position with Laurent’s scent inebriating his senses. Almost, being the key word. The restrictions are the fact that it is barely past five in the afternoon and that mere hours ago, Damen finished up his third cup of coffee. It was a long day. 

So instead of falling asleep, Damen marvels at Laurent. His position looking down at the laptop without any headrest gives him somewhat of a double chin, and his glasses could do with an adjustment. He’s certainly not as glamorous in this position, but he is still just as pleasing for Damen to behold. Damen is absolutely stricken by him. 

“Can I kiss you?” Damen finds himself saying.

Laurent’s eyes go wide for a split-second before he returns his composure. “That depends. Are you going to neglect me when you finally get over Jokaste and no longer require me to fill the void?”

“It’s been weeks- no, a month, and I’m only becoming more and more enamoured with you.”

This causes Laurent to blush. “Shut up,” he says, clearly flustered. “You’re permitted to kiss me so long as I can continue working on my essay.”

“For school or Cuire?”

“Do you want to kiss me or not?”

Damen laughs and pushes himself up so that he can lean over Laurent. Laurent’s eyes remain on his computer, but he’s obviously preparing himself. His pupils are already wider than is necessary for a room with the lights on, and when Damen’s lips meet his jaw, his skin is hot. They haven’t actually kissed in so long that the tension is practically eating them both alive.

It only takes a few kisses to his skin before Laurent shoves his computer to the side so that Damen can get a better angle. Damen is finally able to put his hands on Laurent, so that’s what he does. He keeps one hand by Laurent’s head where he is keeping himself balanced and places the other on the man’s hip, twisting him so that they are facing each other. Laurent’s hands go to Damen’s shoulder and waist. Damen can’t tell if he is keeping Damen at a distance or pulling him closer.

Nails dig into the fabric of Damen’s shirt before Laurent even says anything. Damen smiles into the skin of his neck at the thought of Laurent urging him to do more. Eventually Laurent’s lips part and his breath becomes audible. 

Damen pulls back to look at Laurent. Faint bruises are already beginning to display themselves on both sides of his neck which had not been Damen’s intention. He should have anticipated Laurent’s skin showing the bruising more noticeably, but he doesn’t think that would have dissuaded him.

Laurent’s lips are separated, seemingly waiting for their chance to receive Damen’s kiss. When Laurent opens his eyes, this is proved correct. His normally translucent blue eyes are eclipsed by his dilated pupils. Damen wastes no time leaning down to connect their lips. Laurent’s arms wrap around his neck, pulling him more directly over. Damen shoves a knee in between Laurent’s legs to save himself from losing his balance. Laurent is more pliant than he remembers, his mouth hotter than he can even imagine. Their tongues find each other quickly, desperately.

“We should be talking about business,” Laurent states rather illogically in Damen’s opinion, turning his head to break the kiss. His hands continue to grasp at him, preventing Damen from giving him space even if Damen had wanted to. 

“Profit margins…” A chaste kiss to Laurent’s cheek. “Dividends…” An open mouthed kiss to Laurent’s jaw. “Shareholders…” A light bite to Laurent’s neck followed by the warm swipe of his tongue. Laurent shudders underneath him. “Uh… Microsoft Excel…”

This time Laurent’s shaking is from laughter. “Are you sure you’re cut out to be a CEO?”

“I certainly hope so,” Damen replies, smiling widely as he looks down at Laurent, “seeing as you put so much effort into making me one.”

Laurent rolls his eyes and gives a light tug on Damen’s neck to tell Damen that it is time to resume their kiss. Damen does not have to be told twice, but first he slides his hands underneath Laurent’s shoulders and pulls him up. It doesn’t take much force or effort for Laurent to end up in his lap, one hand on Damen’s chest for purchase and the other cupping his face. 

They end up kissing for the next ten, twenty, thirty minutes. Time has lost all meaning to Damen. All he understands is Laurent and Laurent’s lips and Laurent’s skin under his hand and Laurent’s thighs straddling his own. All he knows is the feeling of Laurent’s hands in his hair and on his cheek and on his body. He’s not sure how he’s ever expected to care for time when he could just care for Laurent.

“We’re doing a piss poor job of not being in a relationship,” Damen calls their attention to after some time when Laurent has ended their kiss in favor of resting their foreheads against each other’s.

“We did a piss poor job of not being in a relationship even when you were still dating Jokaste. Unless you cuddle all of your bros and tell them that they look better in your clothes.”

“No…” Damen can feel his face heating up at the memory of his past idiocy. “God, I was so blind.”

Laurent smiles at him softly and rubs their noses together in a movement that feels too gentle to even be real. Damen closes his eyes to feel each tender touch of their skin more intensely. his hands slip under the bottom of Laurent’s shirt and slide up his sides. He can feel each toned muscle, each bone that lies beneath the skin. 

He smiles involuntarily at the feeling of Laurent kissing his face lightly, as if he’s mimicking Damen’s earlier kisses in his own way. A kiss to his cheek, probably atop his dimple. A kiss to his jaw. Damen cranes his neck to allow easier access. A kiss to his neck. Then he adds to Damen’s sequence by kissing his collarbone. His fingers pull down the collar of his shirt so lightly that it almost tickles. 

“This isn’t working,” Laurent whispers, the heat of his breath hitting Damen’s collar. 

Damen’s heart feels like it stops beating. His eyes widen in anticipation of what Laurent has to say. There is no way Laurent is about to break up with him when they aren’t even dating yet, right? Right? Laurent looks deadly serious as he looks back up at him. 

“Damen, will you be my boyfriend?”

His eyes remain wide, his jaw is slack. It is impossible for Laurent to have just said what Damen thinks he heard. All he can do is stare up at Laurent in shock. Laurent looks concerned.

“Did I say that correctly? I’ve never actually done this before, so I don’t really…”

“I wanted to be the one who asked you out,” Damen’s voice comes out in a whine.

“You’re such a child,” Laurent says, but his face is beaming. “Ask me then.”

“Will you-”

“Yes, so long as you don’t call me ‘babe’ again. It reminds me of Jokaste.”

Damen grimaces. “It kind of reminds me of her, too,” he confesses. Not that he misses her. It’s just that the pet name is forever tarnished now. “I regretted it as soon as it came out of my mouth, but it was too late.”

He’s not even upset that Laurent hadn’t let him complete the question. He’s far too excited at the fact that Laurent has finally agreed to make things official between them. Although Damen enjoyed their time together even when they were not technically romantic, it only made him long for more. They had all the qualities of a relationship except for the title anyway. Damen, for one, isn’t prone to cuddling and wanting to make out with any of his other friends.

Nicaise will be so relieved that they have gotten together, and Damen will be so relieved that Nicaise is finally off his ass about it. He has told Nicaise time and time again that Laurent is the one who refuses to enter into a relationship, but Nicaise gives him shit about it anyway. Not even Nikandros lambastes him as often. Although most of Nikandros’ attacks come in the form of critical looks that Damen has learned to ignore.

“Can I call you ‘love’ though?”

“Don’t push your luck.”

Damen smiles and gives him a demure peck, but Laurent pulls his face back in for a more sincere and passionate kiss. It’s a challenge for Damen to actually kiss back instead of cheesing like an idiot and causing Laurent to make contact with his teeth.

This isn’t luck. This is everything. Damen has everything that he could ever need at this moment right now. He has friends that are more loyal and supportive than he probably deserves. He has a wonderful job that is challenging but very much worthwhile. And now he has a boyfriend that he would do absolutely anything for. 

Damen has everything he needs, but he wants to give Laurent everything he needs, too.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just one more chapter.... I really didn't expect anyone to read this story, but I'm so grateful. Here's a fun little timeline of important events that have happened in the story so far. It takes place in late 2021/early 2022 bc wishful thinking.
> 
> December 3- movie night with the boys  
> December 8- Nicaise goes to therapy  
> December 11/12- shopping with jo  
> december 18- company christmas party  
> december 23- last time Damen takes Nic driving pre break up  
> december 26- Jokaste and Damen break up  
> december 28- Damen and Nik talk, Damen realizes he likes Laurent  
> december 31- monopoly and ball drop, nic gets a fuckin car  
> january 1- confession hour or so after midnight, Nicaise’s birthday


	10. Chapter Ten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the final chapter... (feat. the climax;)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter lowkey kicked my ass and I almost split it into two but I wanted 10 chapters lmao. Sunflower Vol. 6 is the song referenced bc there's no way Laurent wouldn't listen to Harry Styles. Damen too, for that matter.
> 
> Content warning for this chapter; typical mentions of suicide and CSA (oh also some mild sexual content....)

Domesticity is not something that Laurent is accustomed to. That’s evident from the way he looks confused whenever Damen offers to cook him something or pushes him away whenever Damen goes in for a casual kiss. In any of his past relationships, Damen would take this as a sign that they were falling out of love with him. Because this is Laurent, he knows that things are different. His expectations had to shift slightly.

Besides, they haven’t even fallen in love yet… 

Domesticity is all Damen has been used to for the past few years. He’s been slowly working to acquaint Laurent with his routines around the house with varying degrees of success. Laurent always looks ill at ease whenever he first enters the house. It probably takes an hour for him to finally chill out. 

If Damen had it his way, Laurent would move in with him permanently so that he could have his gauche hour and then return to tranquility for the rest of their lives. But Damen is getting ahead of himself. For now, he should just enjoy the contented version of Laurent that is helping him wash the dishes that they dirtied from making and eating breakfast. Damen can’t clear the smile from his face as he watches Laurent rinse off each dish before handing it to him to put in the dishwasher. 

When Laurent realizes that Damen is staring at him, he flicks the excess water from his fingers at Damen’s face. Damen laughs and scrunches up his face, pleasantly surprised when Laurent takes advantage of Damen’s eyes being closed to kiss him, sweetly, playfully, casually. So unlike the Laurent that Damen had met all those months ago.

Laurent’s phone is sitting on the island playing music. Damen offered to grab a speaker, but Laurent said it wasn’t necessary. Instead, they turned up the volume all the way and kept the running of the water to a minimum. Laurent knows the songs well enough to be able to hear the first note and hum the rest from memory. Damen isn’t sure how he never noticed Laurent’s lovely voice until now. 

Once Laurent finishes rinsing the last plate, he leans back against the counter and hums along. Damen puts the plate away and closes the dishwasher before he stands in front of Laurent and cages him in with an arm on each side. Laurent looks very self-satisfied as he looks up at him. He’s no longer humming which Damen finds very unfortunate. 

“Hello.”

Damen replies, “good morning,” with a smile. His next move is to put both hands on Laurent’s waist and pull him away from the counter, leading Laurent with a few steps around the kitchen. Laurent’s confused expression is fleeting, and his arms wrap around Damen’s neck as soon as he realizes what is going on. 

“I’m sure I’ve mentioned my distaste for dancing, so what is this?”

He slides his hand up Laurent’s back and leans forward so that Laurent is forced to lean back into a dip. The wry look on his face and antipathetic words are not enough to hide how happy he is. Damen doesn’t bother to hide his giddiness. Being around Laurent never gets old.

“The song is talking about how the kitchen is a dance floor,” is Damen’s explanation. He doesn’t pull Laurent up.

The sparkle in his brilliant blue eyes is the only evidence of his felicity. His golden hair falls behind him. Such a gradual change, Damen hadn’t noticed how long it had gotten. Damen pokes fun at him for not having cut it yet, but he secretly likes the way he can make his hand into a fist while pulling Laurent’s hair without losing any grip. Laurent always scowls, but the same sparkle appears in his eyes.

Laurent keeps one hand firmly grasping Damen’s bicep. The other goes up to cup his cheek, a touch which Damen leans into without a second thought. Casual touches are usually Damen’s forté, so Damen enjoys everything that Laurent will give him. Then again he would feel incredibly uncomfortable if Laurent started going out of his way to touch him.

“The song is talking about kissing in the kitchen,” Laurent corrects and pinches his cheek.

Damen pulls him back to his feet so that they’re nearly squished against each other. “That sounds good, too.” Laurent doesn’t remove his arms from Damen’s neck, only leans up to do as the song is truly suggesting. Damen ducks his head down to meet him halfway. He almost doesn’t. He almost relishes in the sight of Laurent on his tip toes, attempting to pull him down to his level. He decides not to torment Laurent in that way. It would be torturing himself to prolong the moments before their lips meet anyway.

Every slide of their lips, every touch of their tongues fuels the warmth that is growing in Damen’s chest. Each tiny shift of Laurent’s body, the restrained way he presses himself against Damen feels like an event deserving of celebration. Laurent’s subdued reactions force Damen to be more attentive to his every movement. They force him to appreciate even the smallest things because he now understands that nothing about Laurent should be overlooked. 

Laurent’s fingers drift upwards until they thread through Damen’s hair. Damen knows that his hair is not long enough for Laurent to successfully take hold of, nor are the curls loose enough for Laurent to comb his fingers through without coming across several painful tangles. To his surprise, Laurent doesn’t try to do either. He keeps his fingers there as a way to ground them both and pull Damen even closer as if making out is not close enough. 

“Laurent,” he whispers in the split second their lips are apart.

Laurent only hums curiously, not taking any action to end the kiss in favour of conversing. While his hesitancy when it comes to most elements of a relationship is undeniable, he has really taken to kissing. Damen has no problem with that. He would make out with Laurent all day, all week even.

But not right now. He has something on his mind, and as much as he might regret it, he needs to get it out. One hand comes to slide between them so that he can push Laurent away lighty. Laurent only looks slightly peeved, his bitten pink lips agape, cheeks flushed, eyes wide. Damen can’t help but kiss his temple, where golden hair meets pale skin.

“What would you say if I told you I loved you?” There is no gasp, no audible sounds of shock, but Damen can feel Laurent’s body stiffen. 

“Damen-”

“I’m not saying I do,” Damen is quick to tack on, pulling back to gauge his reaction. “Just… in theory…”

Laurent’s lips are pressed into a straight line, his eyes are clear, his expression is indecipherable. Damen knows that it’s early to even mention this. He knows that this is what got him into trouble with Jokaste, but this feels different than it did with Jokaste. He knows what he had with her was still love, but this feeling is almost more than that. This feeling is indescribable. He doesn’t feel like he is in paradise with Laurent; he feels like he’s on top of the world.

“Well, I would say…” Laurent pauses, pursing his lips together even more. “I love that you’ve done so much for me without want of anything for yourself.” Another pause. His eyebrows are furrowed. “I love that you never pressure me to do or say anything that would make me uncomfortable.” Yet another pause. Now he’s refusing to look at Damen. “I love how much you care about Nicaise.” Damen thinks his heart stops when Laurent finally looks up at him, a spirited glint in his eyes. “I love that you’re a good kisser-”

At that, Damen closes the distance between them, the distance that he made in the first place. It’s inevitable that they end up making out again. Especially after Laurent has just revealed that he thinks Damen is good at it. Damen thinks Laurent is a pretty amazing kisser as well, but his mouth is too occupied to make that known.

A few months ago, this would have been beyond belief. Laurent was nothing but a passing figure at company events, a beautiful presence that tended to lurk in the shadows. Damen hardly even considered going up to him until the one night that he did. He was content just watching Laurent’s smiles fade after every interaction, his eyelids drooping as if he could have passed out right then and there. It was intriguing, but if he had only known then what he knows now… He’s not sure that there would have been a huge difference in the way that things played out, but he’s sure he would have introduced himself sooner.

Now he can’t imagine his life without Laurent. It has only been a few months, but Laurent has made himself an integral, indispensable, irreplaceable part of Damen’s life. Both Laurent and Nicaise, who is probably off running amok in his new car, have very quickly become part of Damen’s family, replacing the two members that he does not speak to anymore. He’ll forgive them at some point… It’s easier to forgive since he’s on the winning side of things.

“I think I’d give it all up for you,” Damen breathes out. Laurent’s golden lashes flutter as he stares up at him. The air in the room suddenly feels very thin. Each breath that they take is laboured. “Everything.”

“Wh-?” Damen’s hands come up to Laurent’s cheeks, silencing his question.

“The money, the job, the friends. I’d give it all up.” He runs one hand through Laurent’s hair, watching the pale strands slip between his fingers. “I’d give it all up to have you.”

Laurent drops his head, his hair falling into his face. They’re close enough that this action causes Laurent’s forehead to touch the tip of Damen’s nose. Damen runs his thumb back and forth over Laurent’s cheek. He’s not sure why Laurent is hiding his face when Damen is the one bearing his heart, but it might be easier to admit without the intensity of Laurent’s gaze.

“Which makes it all the more unbelievable that you’re the reason I have it…” ‘You and your brother,’ Damen avoids adding. Mentioning Auguste would bring the mood down, and Damen is still waiting for Laurent to bring up that conversation on his own. As long as he’s talked about it with Dr. Paschal, which Laurent assures him he has, then Damen is fine to wait.

Damen is met with Laurent’s visual attention once again. “I didn’t do anything that you were unable to do,” Laurent explains. “It was all going to come out eventually. I just expedited the process.”

The grin happens before he can stop it. Much like the words are spoken before he can think better of it. “You expedited my love.”

“Really?” Laurent says dryly. The only hint of questioning in his tone is incredulous. “You narrowly avoided the first premature confession. You’re going to commit yourself to that?”

“I’m sorry,” Damen says in spite of not feeling very sorry. 

He tucks his head into the crook of Laurent’s neck, an awkward position considering their height difference but still somehow comfortable, and nuzzles his nose into the soft skin there. He can feel Laurent’s pulse, just slightly quicker than his resting heart rate but definitely slowing to normal. Laurent wraps his arms around Damen in a not-quite-hug, his head resting lightly on Damen’s. 

“When did you start falling in love with me?”

Damen can almost feel Laurent’s neck heat up, but Laurent’s voice is steady as he responds with, “what ever do you mean?” It’s not a genuine question. He’s deflecting.

“You know exactly what I mean,” Damen rebuts, moving just far enough away to hold Laurent in his view. “You told me that you were half in love with me before we even started dating. When?”

“Unfortunately, you are not privy to that information,” is Laurent’s obstinate response.

“Laurent,” Damen groans.

He settles his hands on Laurent’s waist and hoists him up, taking a moment to acknowledge, with a bit of pride in his workout regimen, how easy he finds it before he sets Laurent on the counter. He doesn’t pick Laurent up often, but every time he does, he enjoys the way that Laurent is at his mercy. Laurent has control in almost all other aspects of his life until Damen picks him up and the man is powerless.

Usually Laurent gives him a deadpan expression after being picked up. This time he is smiling softly and reaching out for him. Damen happily places his head in Laurent’s palm, looking up at Laurent through his dark lashes. Laurent looks a bit like a benevolent god blessing Damen.

“When you offered to take Nicaise driving,” is the blessing that he bestows upon Damen. “It was gradual from there…”

“I’m ashamed to admit it took me much longer to realize… I think I started falling that night outside of the liquor store of all places. I really knew after the Christmas party.”

Laurent recoils slightly at that confession. “I acted so cruelly towards you that night.”

“You were honest,” says Damen, watching the way Laurent’s teeth graze his bottom lip lightly.

“You refused to touch me when we got to my room.”

“I was pretty sure I liked you. I didn’t want to risk cheating on Jokaste.” 

Even though Jokaste was cheating on him. With his brother. Before he and Laurent even became friends. Being the bigger person is not easy. There is still an embarrassingly large part of him that wishes he had cheated on her with Laurent so that he could have broken her heart. It’s against his nature.

Damen leans in, Laurent’s knees pressing into his abdomen. He’s about to initiate another kiss when Laurent stops him with only his words. Damen fancies himself to be a fairly attentive lover, with Laurent there is no choice but to be, but Damen is sure that Laurent could bring mountains crumbling down with one spoken word. 

“You knew you wouldn’t have been able to hold back if we touched?” A coy smile accompanies the teasing tone.

“Not quite,” Damen corrects, running his hands up Laurent’s legs. “I thought I wouldn’t have been able to hold back if you wanted me to touch you.”

The smile only widens. “I’m that intoxicating, am I?”

Damen moves his hands back to Laurent’s knees and spreads them apart so that he can fit himself between his legs. Laurent’s eyebrows raise at this development. All Damen says is, “fuck yeah,” before he connects their lips. 

He pulls Laurent’s hips forward so that their bodies are pressed firmly against each other. Laurent holds one hand against Damen’s chest while the other rests on the junction of his neck and shoulder. They have kissed hundreds of times by this point in their relationship, but every time feels like the first.

Laurent’s head falls back as Damen diverts his attention to Laurent’s neck, his lips kissing and sucking on the supple skin there. He listens as Laurent’s breath quickens and becomes ragged. The sound is far more tantalizing than Damen would like to admit, but his body has no problem revealing how arousing Laurent sounds. His fingers dig into Laurent’s sides, as if attempting to bring Laurent closer than is physically possible.

When Laurent wraps his legs around Damen’s waist, he can feel that Laurent is just as excited, if not more so. Both of their sweatpants now feel like far too much fabric. Well, both of Damen’s sweatpants technically. Laurent had not brought any sleep appropriate clothing, and Damen loves seeing him in his clothes. There should still be nothing between them, even if Damen does enjoy seeing his own pants practically falling off of Laurent’s hips. He wants them to have already fallen off of Laurent. Every cell of their beings should be pressed up against each other. Natural sciences be damned. 

A wandering hand finds its way under Laurent’s shirt. It’s unclear whether Laurent shivers at the feeling of Damen at his neck or at his abdomen, but Laurent’s gasp when Damen flicks his nipple lightly is unmistakable. His legs tighten around Damen’s waist, inadvertently pulling up the bottom of Damen’s shirt and exposing his lower back. He can’t be bothered to fix it while he has Laurent like this.

“This is a little heated for this early in the morning,” Laurent says a little breathlessly. 

“Spoken like someone who has never had morning sex.” Damen forces himself away from Laurent just in time to catch the glare he receives for that comment, that fact. “You don’t know what you’re missing out on.”

Rosy cheeked with the red beginnings of bruises along his neck, Laurent does not look like a man unaware of the pleasures of morning sex. He looks more akin to someone in the midst of enjoying said morning sex. Damen can make that happen. He’s sure that he looks as if he has been interrupted while in the thralls of passion as well. Which is not that far off from the truth, he supposes.

“I imagine you’re more than willing to show me.”

“You have no idea…” Damen says before returning to Laurent’s neck again, this time devoting his attention to the neglected side. 

“I have some idea…” Laurent contradicts, using his legs to pull Damen’s hips against his own, where Damen is undoubtedly prodding him with his own arousal. Damen closes his eyes and holds himself back from biting Laurent’s skin at the sudden stimulation. “Inspire me.”

Damen does not need to be told twice. He practically rips his own shirt off and then stumbles out of his pants. While he is working on his own clothes, Laurent is also untying the strings of the sweats, at one point not wanting them to fall down and now wanting them off as quickly as possible. Damen gives him a hand once he is down to his boxers, pulling at the legs until they fall to the floor.

They both ignore Laurent’s shirt. Damen is far too caught up in the softness of Laurent’s lips and the heat that they are creating together. Laurent is too fascinated by the feeling of Damen’s skin underneath his hands. He should be no stranger to seeing Damen half naked, but Laurent always seems just as absorbed by the sight and contact. 

“What do you want?” Damen asks, hands travelling up and down the expanse of Laurent’s muscular thighs. 

He would do anything for Laurent and anything to Laurent. He just wants to make Laurent feel good and for this to be a good experience for him. Open communication is the only way to assure this. Sometimes Laurent isn’t the best when it comes to communication, but he’s been getting a lot better. Dr. Paschal has been helping a lot.

“You,” is Laurent’s answer. “Everything with you.”

Damen’s face breaks into a smile, his heart overflows with the emotions he feels for Laurent because he wants Laurent, too. He wants everything with Laurent. Everything and anything that he can get. He almost slips up and impetuously confesses his love again. Instead he gives Laurent a quick kiss. An innocent kiss that feels incongruous with their nearly naked bottom halves rubbing against each other in a slow search for inexorable pleasure. 

Damen allows himself a few additional upward thrusts to which Laurent assists by timing his own tentative shifts of his hips to match Damen’s. It really ends up being Laurent’s legs that bring Damen closer, as Laurent’s position does not allow for much else. Damen has no complaints.

Stopping himself from allowing them both to reach their climax through the friction alone feels like an impossible task. Especially when he knows that any change will result in Laurent ceasing his silent panting. He decides to make a compromise with himself, sliding a hand between them until he finds Laurent’s waistband and slips underneath.

The sound that comes from Laurent’s mouth at the sudden direct contact is somewhere between a choke and a gasp. His fingernails dig into the skin of Damen’s shoulders, undeniably creating crescent shaped indentations. With the amount of bruises Damen has left on Laurent’s skin, it’s only fair that Laurent scratch him up a bit as well. It shows how much control Laurent has given Damen. Nevermind him allowing Damen this intimacy without spurting legalese beforehand… as he has done a couple of times in the past.

His nails dig deeper as his hips jut into Damen’s hand. Damen slows his movements the way he knows will drive Laurent crazy. He gives a light kiss to Laurent’s Adam's apple, which the man has exposed by throwing his head back, then presses his lips to each of the marks on the column of Laurent’s neck.

He slides his fingers in Laurent’s hair and tilts his head back up to receive his kiss. This kiss is much shorter than any of their previous ones. A second or two, before Laurent is breaking it to simply breathe. His pants are kisses in their own right in the way they linger against Damen’s lips. Laurent’s whispered “Damen,” feels like a more intense kiss. He slows his hand further.

Damen finds himself rather breathless as he says, “you’re fucking amazing.”

Laurent’s next words are unintelligible, consisting mostly of huffs of breath and guttural noises, and subsequently the sounds cease entirely. Warmth spreads up Laurent’s face much like it spreads over Damen’s fist and the bottom of Laurent’s shirt. Damen does his damndest to kiss Laurent as he reaches around the man to find the sink.

“I can…” Damen is unsure if Laurent stops talking because he doesn’t know where to go with his statement or because he decides that kissing ranks higher on his priorities. “If you want…” is how Laurent wraps up his partial thought.

Somehow, Damen knows exactly what he means. “Whatever you want to do, Laurent,” Damen says, wiping his now clean but wet hand off on the sleeve of Laurent’s shirt. If Laurent were not still coming down, he would have scowled at that action. “I want whatever you want.”

Laurent slides down from the counter and reaches for Damen’s boxers. The nerves that are absent from his face come through in his uncertain reach, but once his hand comes into contact with the fabric, his actions are sure. He doesn’t break eye contact as skin touching cotton becomes skin touching skin. Damen is not a fan of how tight Laurent’s lips are pressed together.

To relieve some of the tension, Damen leans forward and kisses his forehead, nose, and finally his taut lips. He can almost feel some of Laurent’s nerves stop sending warning signals to his brain. 

But as soon as Laurent has finally calmed down, there is a knock at the door that puts him on edge again. His strokes pause, and Damen wants to scream. 

“Are you expecting company?” Laurent asks, his hand still very noticeably and incredibly holding the most sensitive part of Damen. 

“If I am, they’re not welcome now…” Damen practically growls. He’s not accustomed to being interrupted during moments of intimacy. “Can we just ignore it?”

“No.” Laurent’s tone is assured and factual. “Our cars are in the driveway. They know we’re here, and it’s not  _ that _ early…” 

Damen thinks he’s going to cry when Laurent’s hand leaves his skin in favor of pulling his sweatpants back on. It takes Damen a second to understand that Laurent is planning on opening the door. 

“I can get it.”

“Damianos, I’m uncertain if you have failed to notice, but right now you have an erection the size of my head. I’ll get the door,” Laurent says over his shoulder dryly. 

He had noticed. It would be difficult not to notice. Ignoring his own arousal when providing pleasure to his partners has never been an issue for him, but ignoring it when he is in the midst of receiving pleasure from his partners is a different story. With that in mind, Laurent makes a good point. Damen is in no position to be opening doors for unknown people at the moment. 

Laurent hasn’t even reached the door when he says, “Nicaise, I swear, if that’s you, I’m confiscating your car.” 

Damen can see Laurent’s body tense up as the door swings open, but he cannot see who is at the door. In fact, he’s trying to stay out of view as he pulls his clothing back on. Even Laurent’s curt, “why are you here?” does not quite provide Damen with the information needed for identification. 

“You were right,” the man says. Damen doesn’t recognize the voice immediately, but their identity becomes increasingly obvious as they continue. “He never loved me. As soon as he found someone else, someone younger, who he could manipulate, he dropped me. Like all of those years together meant nothing.” A pause. “Like  _ I _ meant nothing.”

“He’s a sick individual,” Laurent says in a tone softer than any Laurent has used with someone other than Damen or Nicaise. “It’s nothing to do with you, Aimeric.”

Damen can’t see more than the top of Aimeric’s hair, but he can tell that he shifts awkwardly at that. Laurent, despite how uncomfortable he surely feels, does not let it show in his body language. As opposed to the rigid posture he typically employs when he’s speaking to someone who makes him uncomfortable, he looks much more approachable. His shoulders are dropped, one hand in the pocket of his sweats, his head tipped slightly to encourage the conversation.

“Yeah, well, I didn’t leave empty handed. I thought these might be of use to you.” 

Laurent uses his free hand, his clean hand, to take the papers that he has been offered. Aimeric was fired a good little while ago, so how long was he holding on to whatever this is? Laurent does not immediately open the manilla envelope that he has been handed, but his grip on it is so intense that his knuckles are nearly white.

From his audible reaction, Laurent does not know what is in the envelope. In all of the times that they have talked about work and his uncle, Laurent has never mentioned there being anything that would aid in taking him down. So why is Laurent so petrified of losing this folder?

“Thank you…” Laurent says. His voice sounds strained, as if he’s not used to thanking people. Damen supposes that Laurent never thought he would be in a position where he would need or want to thank Aimeric. “I take it Jord told you where I would be.”

Damen is not in a spot where he can see the blush appear on Aimeric’s face, but he can certainly hear Aimeric’s fluster when he stammers out, “Um… Yeah… He-”

“Tell him I said ‘hello’.”

A few months ago, Laurent would have stood there and watched Aimeric stutter awkwardly while smiling coldly. A few months ago, Laurent had hit the boy across his face for insinuating a truth that Damen had yet to find out about. A few months ago, Laurent would have never shown this much compassion. Damen is proud of how far he has come. He feels honoured to have been able to witness the slow shift.

“I will,” Aimeric replies. It sounds like he’s smiling. A few months ago, this interaction would have been implausible. “Laurent, I really do appreciate the words of warning. Even if they did come with a little more violence than necessary.” Laurent lets out a breath of laughter. “It helped to not be blindsided.”

“I only wish I had been able to get to you before…”

The pregnant pause between them is something that Damen would not comprehend even if he could see their faces. Damen will never be able to understand the connection and sense of duty between them, much like he will never be able to understand the connection and love between Laurent and Nicaise. There are a lot of things about Laurent’s relationships with others that Damen will never understand, but he accepts it all nonetheless. 

There is a second, more awkward, exchange of goodbyes before Aimeric actually leaves. Laurent closes the door behind him, but does not immediately turn back to Damen. Before Damen can ask, he’s walking back to the kitchen. 

“That was sweet of you.”

Laurent doesn’t even look up from opening the envelope when he replies with, “quiet, you.”

The amused look on Laurent’s face drops instantly as he pulls the paper out. It wasn’t nearly enough time for Laurent to have actually read any of the words on the page, but his expression only becomes more somber as his eyes sweep the paper. 

Damen takes a step forward. He places a hand on Laurent’s shoulder, but quickly retracts it upon Laurent’s flinch. Laurent has not flinched under his touch in months. Damen isn’t necessarily hurt, but he is incredibly worried for Laurent now. He doesn’t want to overstep, but he wants to know what could possibly have shocked Laurent to this amount.

“Laurent…? What is it?”

“I thought it was my fault,” Laurent says, voice barely above a whisper. “For seven years, I blamed myself.”

“Laurent… What are you talking about?”

Laurent looks up at him and holds out the paper silently. Damen takes them, equally silent. He has never seen Laurent this teary eyed, this close to breaking down. Damen knows almost nothing that would bring Laurent to tears except for maybe…

A letter from Auguste, in beautiful cursive similar to Laurent’s, made out to their father, but more than that. A note from Auguste, detailing things so intimately personal that Damen feels like he should not be allowed to read them. It’s only when he gets into the actual text of the note that he realizes why Laurent has let him into this private part of his life. Or… He understands why Laurent does not want to deal with this alone and why he is the only one who Laurent can trust.

According to Auguste’s own words, he had been struggling with major depression for a while but had put on a good face to help raise Laurent after their mother passed. His feeling of responsibility for Laurent made it difficult, no, impossible, to come to terms with what Laurent told him after he got back from a business trip to Europe. The letter does not specify exactly what Laurent told him. Damen knows. Laurent’s father apparently did not, and Auguste clearly did not want to unleash the burden of knowledge on him. The only hint is in the fact that Auguste begs Aleron to keep their uncle away from Laurent. 

The final paragraph is him apologizing, both for allowing the unspecified event to happen to Laurent and for leaving them. He tells Aleron to protect Laurent better than he could and to let Laurent know how much he loves him. That is all the letter says directly.

“I thought it was my fault for telling him about what happened with uncle. He took it so hard. He thought it was his fault. I thought it was _ my _ fault.” 

But there are implications. A second reading brings up the question of why Auguste had thought it was his fault. Damen spots the words, ‘I spoke to Uncle,’ before Auguste begins to blame himself and almost vomits.

“The whole time uncle had been… whispering into his ear,” Laurent says, one tear sliding down his cheek. “I thought it was my fault that he thought it was his fault. Uncle had been blaming him. He  _ wanted _ Auguste to feel responsible.”

Laurent thought it was his fault for telling Auguste. Auguste thought it was his fault for leaving Laurent alone with their uncle in the first place. Their uncle was the one who planted both of the remorseful thoughts in their head.

Damen has not cried since the day after he broke up with Jokaste. He can count the number of times he has cried since his mother’s death on one hand. When Damen sees how distraught Laurent looks, how glassy his eyes are, how tense his body is, he can feel tears of his own well up.

“Love, come here,” Damen says, opening his arms.

It takes a second for Laurent to respond or even act like he’s heard. Eventually, he walks into Damen’s chest, allowing Damen to wrap his arms around him but not moving to hug Damen back. He just hides his face in Damen’s chest while Damen rubs his back. 

Laurent doesn’t remove his head from Damen’s chest when he says, “he never even told our father. He just told him to keep uncle away from me. He didn’t want father to feel guilty, so he dealt with it alone…”

Damen doesn’t have the words to reply. All he can do is hold Laurent tightly and bury his face in his pale hair. This is the first time Laurent has ever spoken so openly and honestly about Auguste before. To think, just an hour or so ago, Damen had been thinking about how he would be okay with waiting to talk about him. Now he has the man’s suicide note in his hand.

“Auguste would- he’d still be here if uncle hadn’t…”

He kisses the top of Laurent’s head. There is really nothing he can say. Nothing that will come close to mending the wound that Laurent has just had reopened. All he can do is be here for Laurent and show his support. 

Damen shifts the paper between his fingers, realizing for the first time that it is actually papers plural. He blinks through his tears and flips Auguste’s note behind to reveal a paper with more legal jargon than Damen was anticipating. There are multiple articles and the naming of beneficiaries. Well, one beneficiary. 

“Did you read the second page?” Damen asks, his mind still turning to figure out what he is actually reading. Laurent steps away from Damen and takes the papers from him.

“Second page?”

“It’s not your brother’s. It’s-”

“My father’s will…”

The look on Laurent’s face is austere resolution. It’s the determination to do what he has not had the means to do until this very moment. Damen isn’t sure of precisely what Laurent has decided to do, but he knows that he will stand by whatever decision it is. Laurent helped him become CEO. It’s only right that he returns the favor. 

^^^^^

Nicaise begged Laurent to let him come in to witness it all. Laurent flat-out refused, told him to stay in the car. Uncle is good at spinning things his way, so Laurent can’t risk bringing in anything or anyone that could possibly give Uncle an advantage. 

The front desk clerk pales at the sight of Laurent walking through the doors, but one warning gesture from Vannes and they allow him entrance. Perfect timing as they had discussed. With the board meeting ending right before he showed up, she, and all other board members, would already be in the office building. She gives him a nod and waves him off with the hand that is not holding a briefcase. He hasn’t been in their office building in years, but he’s an infamous enough figure to warrant stares from everyone there. Uncle has evidently dragged his name through the mud, leaving no stone unturned and no employee unaware. 

Laurent keeps his posture upright and his head held high, ignoring the whispers and leers that follow him. He knows exactly where his Uncle’s office is. It’s the same office that his father used, the same office Auguste was supposed to use, the same office that Uncle brought him to several times right after Aleron died. Soon, it will be his office. He doesn’t knock before he opens the heavy door, not bothering to close it behind him either. He wants everyone in the vicinity to hear.

Uncle looks up from the boy sitting across the desk from him, irate at being disrupted. His anger tinges with confusion as he realizes who has interrupted him. Laurent pays no attention to the boy that Uncle is most likely interviewing. He must still be trying to replace Aimeric or perhaps there has already been another in that time frame. 

“Hello, Uncle.”

“Laurent, what are you doing here?” It’s infuriating that he sounds mildly held up at best. “Who let you in?”

Laurent moves to stand right in front of Uncle’s desk, looking down his nose at the older man. Uncle does not stand. Steadying his voice so as not to reveal his anxiety is even more difficult than Laurent had anticipated even though he has the upper hand. He rolls the cuff of his cashmere sweater between his fingers and palm. In his peripheral, Laurent can see that there is a crowd of sorts gathering in the hallway outside of the office. Adequate.

“I have a few friends in high places. Nepotism can be very beneficial, as you may know.”

“Your impertinence is not compulsory,” Uncle attempts to shut him down, acutely cognizant of the mass of people that are bearing witness to this conversation. “You’d do well to drop the attitude when speaking to me.”

“Is that so? Unfortunately for you, I have not finished. I’m afraid you’ll find my next statement to be equally unappealing.” Uncle raises his eyebrows. “You will have me instated as the new owner and CEO of Cuire by deVere.”

“What makes you so sure of that, you pompous child?”  _ Child. _

“Because I have evidence that you committed fraud.”

Uncle’s expression goes grim. Laurent forces himself not to look away, continues ignoring the shocked chatter from the employees and board members behind him and the gasp from the dirty blond boy that Uncle was interviewing. This moment is crucial. He has no room for error, no allowance for distraction. One misspoken word and everything that Laurent has worked so hard for could be ripped out of his fingers. He has come so far. He can practically feel the weight of the sceptre in his hand. 

He cares about the outcome of this situation. He cares so much. It’s terrifying.

Laurent tosses the packet of papers onto Uncle’s desk and watches the man thumb through the pages haphazardly. As churlish as his expression was before, it darkens even more as he comprehends that Laurent is not making empty threats. He has come with firepower and additional ammunition. 

“Don’t worry,” Laurent says with a sardonic smile. “I’ve already scanned them and made plenty of copies. In fact, a copy has already been sent to the NYPD and my own personal attorney.”

Damen had been insistent on sending all of the information to the police. Laurent only acquiesced because he wanted as many eyes on his father’s last will and testament as possible. So while Laurent searched for an attorney that was not in the pocket of his Uncle as his father’s apparently had been, Damen talked to a friend of a friend at the police station. The attorney actually helped draft out a lawsuit that he could serve Uncle if the tides did not favor Laurent today.

“And when the court asks how you came across these documents after so long?”

“You can have them look over your security footage as thoroughly as you would like, but I’m certain you’ll find nothing of me and only further incriminate yourself. Would you like them to check the security footage for your office specifically? Maybe they should go back a few years. I think I saw some suspicious individuals running around when you brought me to your office when I was just seventeen.

“Or perhaps they should interview all of your former assistants. That would be quite a lot. They don’t tend to last long, do they? I believe seventeen is the oldest you’ll allow them to get. Or have you bumped it up to eighteen now?” Laurent turns his attention to the boy who is seemingly trying to sink into the armchair. “How old are you, boy?”

“E-eighteen…”

“You’ve truly rescinded your ways.”

Uncle looks back up at the crowd, down at the will, and then meets Laurent’s cold gaze. “What do you want?”

“Your immediate resignation by the end of the week,” is what Laurent had decided he would demand if he made it this far. He has made it this far. “Just long enough for you to have me instated as your successor.”

“You’re unqualified. You can’t fool them forever. Even your bungling oaf of a boyfriend will leave you once he realizes how incompetent you are.”

Once, those disparaging words would have had Laurent second guessing himself. They probably would have been enough to convince Laurent to hand Cuire off to somebody else. He is no longer the same crestfallen, apprehensive young adult. He knows that Uncle’s belittlement is nothing but a desperate final grasp for the power that Laurent is at long last taking back from him. 

Uncle does not know Damianos. Uncle does not know Laurent.

“And Nicaise,” Laurent adds on. “I’m taking Nicaise, and you’re going to let me.”

“Take the boy. He’s of no worth to me, and he’ll be nothing but an impediment to you as well.”

Laurent can disregard the obloquy hurled around regarding himself, but he won’t stand for anyone, especially Uncle, slandering Nicaise in such a manner. Nicaise has made his fair share of mistakes, but at the end of the day, he is still a child.

Laurent wishes the crowd would vanish suddenly so that he can enact some of his own fantasies with his Uncle. Uncle had his turn to play out some the dark sides of his imagination with Laurent. Laurent deserves his turn. If only everyone would leave and close the door behind them so that Laurent can make use of the paper knife on his desk. He takes a step further and leans over the desk, his hand resting right next to the letter opener that he wants to use for an unintended purpose. 

“You’re getting off easy. If I wasn’t worried about the irrevocable emotional toll it would take on Nicaise and every other child whose life you ruined, I would take you to court for your perversion as well.”

Uncle grabs his collar in one smooth but aggressive movement, pulling him in so that he can spit in his face and saying, “you believe this blithering whore?” The question is directed to the crowd. “He’s been conspiring with that contrived new CEO of Akielon Industries. This ingénue has been barred from all company knowledge on rational grounds, and you’re going to place him in charge of the entire company?”

“You’re the only one guilty of collusion.” Laurent has never been so relieved to hear Vannes’ voice. He knocks Uncle’s hand away from his collar while Vannes continues with, “your treachery extends all the way to coercing the former vice president of Akielon Industries to embezzle company funds and route them to your own accounts.”

There are more audible reactions of shock from the crowd as Vannes pulls out papers of her own from her briefcase. Laurent, himself, is surprised, but he refuses to let anyone else know that he was not in on this. Uncle stands violently, sending his rolling chair flying backwards.

“Somebody call security for God’s sake,” Laurent directs to whoever in the audience is willing.

There is a moment of confused chaos during which people attempt to call for security, most of whom are already in the crowd themselves. It’s fortunate that the door is blocked. Laurent is sure that his Uncle would have made a run for it if that had been a valid option for him. Two members of security restrain him as the police are called.

Pushing off of the desk, Laurent turns to address the crowd of employees more directly. “If there is anyone who aided my Uncle in the many crimes he committed or who colluded in the coverup, speak now or be forced to speak in court.” No one says anything. They all look around at each other. “Fine. I’ll uncover the charlatans myself, and you will all find out the hard way that I don’t take well to being lied to.” 

There are several people who look more than willing to expose their coworkers. They’ll come to Laurent in private and provide him with the information he needs. Laurent is not in the mood to deal with that right now. He wishes, before he can think better of it, that Damen did not have to work today so that he could find solace in the man’s arms when he gets out of this godforsaken building.

“You’re all dismissed.”

It takes a considerable while for everyone to make their way out of the office and down the hallway. In that time, Laurent stops the boy whose interview he had interrupted from leaving with the rest of the group. He holds him back as they watch Uncle surrender to security and file out with everyone else. 

“Are you still in need of a job? I believe Cuire will have quite a few positions opening up within the next few weeks, and I’m certain I could use an assistant.” He looks hesitant. “No sexual favours required, trust me.”

“I get the feeling you just-” he stops himself, biting his bottom lip awkwardly. “Thank you, Mr. deVere.”

This is the first time anyone has ever actually referred to him as Mr. deVere. His entire world seems to have shifted dramatically in the span of less than half an hour. Laurent is already in the elevator when everything finally dawns on him. There is an almost insurmountable amount of work ahead of him. 

It would be overwhelming if Laurent had not already successfully made it to midterms. It would be overwhelming if Laurent hadn’t been attending therapy every week. It would be overwhelming if Laurent didn’t have both Nicaise and Damen as his support system. All things that, a year ago, Laurent never thought he could have achieved.

Laurent pushes open the door, heading towards where Nicaise should hopefully be waiting in his car. To his surprise, Nicaise is standing in front of the car conversing with someone in a hoodie, hood pulled up to hide their features. The extreme height even while slouching and broad shoulders could only be one person, but that person is not allowed to be here. 

He forgets all about the threat of conflict of interests and monopolies as soon as Damen turns to him and smiles. Laurent practically collapses into Damen’s open arms. All of the stress from the day seems to dissolve as Damen rubs his back and asks, “how are you? Are you okay?” in a low tone meant only for Laurent. They only separate when Nicaise clears his throat loudly.

“Ding dong, is the wicked bitch dead?” is how Nicaise phrases the question that is clearly on both of their minds. 

Laurent doesn’t get the chance to respond, hasn’t figured out what to say, before Damen dives into his chest. As it turns out, when Laurent is emotionally and mentally tired, he becomes more open to physical contact, even in front of others. Damen has already figured this out. He probably knew before Laurent did. Nicaise will torment him about this later, but Laurent is used to it by this point. Nothing could be worse than when Nicaise found out that Laurent had put the photobooth photos in his phone case.

Nicaise groans and gets into the car, leaving the two of them to resume their PDA without worrying about Nicaise. Damen lifts his head from Laurent’s chest and looks up at him with a smile. The entire world disappears as Laurent stares into his perfect brown eyes. He takes a second to brush his thumb over Damen’s face, clean shaven for work, pausing at the indent of his dimple before continuing to his full lips. 

Every time Laurent sees him, he’s always surprised by how handsome Damen is. Laurent grabs the sides of his hood and pulls him into a kiss, hiding both of their faces with Damen’s hood. He is in love with this man, No half-feelings about it. 

“Thank god you’re back,” Damen says as they pull apart. He starts walking to the passenger’s side while Laurent hops in the driver’s seat. Nicaise has been shoved to the backseat. Seniority. “He’s been harassing me about our sex life for the past ten minutes.” 

Going off the fact that both Nicaise and Damen were outside of the car, Nicaise was planning on defying Laurent’s orders to stay in the car much like Damen violated Laurent’s orders to stay at work and meet him at his house. Laurent can’t find it in him to be upset at the disobedience. He’s far too relieved to see the friendly faces.

“He does that,” Laurent explains, unsurprised. He hears Nicaise snort from the backseat.

“Well, how did it go?”

Laurent sighs and turns the car on. “I said my piece and gave him his options. I think he’ll be inclined to side with me after the development that Vannes dropped.”

“About Kastor’s embezzlement? I’m glad she got the information in time. It took me fucking ages to trace it back to your Uncle.”

“Were you planning to let me in on those findings? Or did you want me to be caught unawares?” 

Damen laughs. “Well, sorry, but that’s just business, baby.”

Laurent stifles one of his own. “Shut up.”

“Can you guys save the lovers’ quarrel for later?” Nicaise interrupts. “I’m hungry, and Damen promised me some traditional Greek dish his dad used to make.”

“You know, you’ll have to officially meet my father now. Do you want to meet him as the CEO of Cuire or as my boyfriend first?”

Laurent smiles despite himself. “I want to meet him as me.” 

Laurent deVere, owner and CEO of Cuire by deVere  _ and _ boyfriend of Damianos touAkielos, owner and CEO of Akielon Industries. Laurent is a businessman, a boyfriend, a brother, and a person. He is… everything, really. He is everything he needs to be and everything he has ever wanted to be. He has to blink a few times to prevent tears from clouding his vision. 

Laurent doesn’t give himself the time to cry until after dinner, until Nicaise and Damen are bundled up outside staring at the sky and he is staring at the bathroom mirror. He actually recognizes himself. He doesn’t look sad or angry or even disappointed, but he does look happy. Even the teardrops on his cheeks do not do anything to mask the smile on his face and the sparkle in his eyes. He doesn’t remember the last time he saw that spark of life.

“Laurent! You’re gonna miss the meteor shower!”

He wipes his face clean and makes his way back outside. His heart flutters as both Nicaise and Damen turn to him with matching smiles on their faces. Damen has one arm around Nicaise’s shoulders, a position Nicaise would only allow from Damen, and raises the other arm for Laurent. Laurent settles into Damen’s side, allowing him to rub his shoulder.

A shooting star crosses the sky as Laurent looks up. He would smile, but there is already one occupying his face. Damen squeezes his arm and kisses him quickly on his temple. Laurent’s eyes find their way to the three familiar stars of Orion’s belt.

“I used to look at the constellations because I was lonely and wanted to feel closer to my brother.” Laurent can feel the attention of Nicaise and Damen turn to him as he speaks. “I still miss him, but I’m not so lonely anymore…”

He doesn’t need to look over at Damen and Nicaise to know that they are smiling at him. He can feel it in the air around them. He knows Auguste would be smiling at that, too. Sometimes he swears he can feel Auguste smiling down at him. 

“We’re so proud of you, love,” Damen says. “He would be so proud of you.”

It’s true. Auguste would be so proud of Laurent. In fact, Laurent is proud of himself which means so much more than anyone else’s approval. He feels fulfilled.

Laurent didn’t care. Not since he lost Auguste. Maybe not ever. But he cares now. More than he ever thought possible. Now Laurent has three people to live for, to care for; Nicaise, Damen, and himself.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I spent longer writing this than the author of Divergent spent writing that book which is ridiculous to me, but they were 3 months well spent. There are certainly some things I would change about the whole thing now that i’m finished. I'd probably spread out some of the action in this chapter to some previous chapters and done a little more foreshadowing, but otherwise I’m pretty proud of how it came out. Especially for something I wrote mostly during the academic semester. 
> 
> Big thanks to everyone who has read, left kudos, and written wonderful comments. I stg I blush every time I get a comment. I'm obsessed haha I'm so astonished that anyone took the time to read 60,000+ words that I wrote! Thank you all so much 🥺


End file.
